


Love is War

by OneAndOnlyOllie



Category: Six - Marlow/Moss
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Angst, Anne is a soldier, Anne is traumatized, Aragon knows stuff, Bisexual Anne Boleyn, But she'll be okay, Cathy is a writer, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gay Catherine Parr, He sucks, Hell if I know-, Homophobia, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I think it's going well though, Jane has a coffee shop, Jane is a good cousin, Kat is just mindin' her own business, Military, Not Anymore, Not Beta Read, Oh, Past Character Death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prosthetic Limbs, This fic is so different from how I imagined it, Thomas Boleyn's A+ Parenting, We Die Like Men, and being gay for Anna, and it's super gay, honestly though I don't know, i blame my friend, i think, it was supposed to be a fluffy gay fic, just kidding, just trying to finish her novel, like a lot, like a lot of stuff, no one likes him, parrlyn, seriously- I have no idea how this happened, she's doing her best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:47:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29776389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneAndOnlyOllie/pseuds/OneAndOnlyOllie
Summary: Anne has just got home from a 12-month Army deployment when she meets the novelist, Catherine Parr, at her cousin's coffee shop.
Relationships: Anne Boleyn & Jane Seymour, Anne Boleyn & Katherine Howard, Anne Boleyn/Catherine Parr, Anne of Cleves & Katherine Howard, Anne of Cleves/Katherine Howard, Catherine of Aragon & Catherine Parr
Comments: 42
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know very little about the British military so...

Anne could see her cousin's coffee shop from a block away thanks to its brightly covered windows and rainbow overhang, and the sight of it made a smile crease the Boleyn girl's face. She had come immediately from the airport after telling her family that her transport back had been delayed a month. Jane and Kat had no idea she was home.

The small shop hadn't changed in years, Anne realized when she stepped inside. The cafe's walls were decorated with the little hand-held pride flags Anne had helped hang before she was deployed, but a new addition was the rainbow twinkle lights weaving between them. Many of the armchairs and the tables were filled with kids and adults alike, and many were working either in notebooks or on computers.

Jane was behind the counter with Kat and Anna, and all three were running around to fill orders.

"I'll be right with you!" Kat called to Anne without looking up.

"No problem. You seem busy."

Kat danced around Jane and grabbed a jug of milk, "No kidding." She finished the drink she was making, called out a name, then wiped her hands on her apron and came up to the counter. "Hey, uhm, what can I-" She stopped short when she saw her cousin.

"Hey, Kat?" smiled Anne.

"ANNE!" the teenager scrambled around the counter and threw herself against Anne, who was careful to put her weight on her left leg and her cane.

Jane had finally looked up, as had Anna and most of the shop's customers.

"Anne!"

The Boleyn girl held her cousins tightly as Anna explained to the shop who she was. Anne caught a few parts of the introduction: "Anne Boleyn", "Lieutenant", "Army", "previously deployed". When the three pulled back, the end of a short-lived applause reached Anne's ears. She adjusted her grip on the padded handle of her cane and grinned widely, mocking a gasp of shock when Jane slapped her arm.

"You said you wouldn't be back until next month!"

Anne laughed, "Yeah, well," she shrugged, "I lied."

Kat's face twisted into a wide smile as Jane shook her head in amusement.

"Of course you did, love," the oldest of the three rubbed Kat's shoulder as she looked Anne up and down. "Do you want to change? We've got all your clothes upstairs?"

Anne shifted her shoulders under the weight of her backpack, "Can I get a coffee and a croissant first? The only thing I've eaten today is breakfast and the tiny little food packets they give you on planes."

"Yes, yes! Of course! Sit down!" Jane immediately went into what Kat called her 'Mom Mode' and shooed Anne over to an empty armchair beside a young woman in a blue hoodie who was hunched over a laptop.

Anne motioned to the empty seat when Jane had gone back to the counter, "Can I sit here?"

"Sure," the woman shrugged, glancing up. "Oh, uhm, thank you for your service," she added awkwardly.

"Uh, yeah, of course," Anne massaged her thigh, trying to relieve some of the pressure and pain of the prosthetic limb under her uniform, "What are you working on? If you don't mind me asking."

The woman smiled, "Yeah, no, it's okay. I'm writing a novel."

Anne's eyebrows raised, "A novel? That's impressive."

"I don't know what I'm doing more than half the time," the writer admitted, "Oh, erm, I'm Catherine Parr, by the way. But, uh, I prefer Cathy."

"Lieutenant Boleyn," Anne replied reflexively, "Er, sorry, uhm. You can call me Anne."

Cathy nodded, "It's nice to meet you, Anne."

"You, too."

The two were saved from another awkward half-conversation by Anna walking up to them and handing over a warm croissant and a mug.

"I'm glad you're home, Anne," the German mumbled softly.

"Me too," Anne agreed, catching Anna's wrist, "Hey, wait, uhm, you and Kat? What's the story?"

Cathy looked up in time to see Anna's cheeks flush red as she replied.

"Oh, uhm, well, er, we got together three months ago."

The Boleyn girl smiled, "Good." She pulled Anna closer and whispered just loud enough for Cathy to hear, "Hurt her, I will kill you."

The German's cheeks paled as the Lieutenant let go. Anne sat back and sipped from her mug as she watched Anna return back to the counter where she greeted Kat with a kiss on her forehead.

"This is going to sound really strange," Cathy spoke suddenly and without her brain's permission, "But, er, uhm, you're, uh, you're really, erm, aesthetically pleasing and, well, uhm, I was wondering if I could, well, if I could model my main character after, uhm, well, after you?"

Anne nearly choked on her croissant, "Uhm, what?"

Cathy flushed red, "I, uhm, for my novel. Uhm, I've been trying to figure out the personifications and everything of my main protagonist and, well, that's part of why I've been hanging out in here a lot because, uhm, because a lot of interesting people are here and-"

"And I'm the most interesting?" Anne finished.

"Uhm, yeah, at least, to the eyes."

The soldier grinned, "Are you calling me pretty?"

"I- uhm, er, well, uh," Cathy rubbed the back of her neck, "I, uh, maybe?"

"Relax," Anne laughed, "And sure. You can design a character around me."

Cathy's smile brightened and Anne felt her stomach tighten. "Really? Awesome! Thank you so much! Uhm, would it be possible at all for us to meet up sometime so I can learn more about you? I mean," She immediately turned bright red, "Uh, for purely professional reasons. You know," she motioned to her computer, "For the book."

Anne nodded, "Right, of course, for the book." She glanced at her cousins and Anna, who were all watching her with matching expressions that clearly read _'YOU GAY'._ She rolled her eyes at the three and looked back to Cathy, "Uhm, do you want to meet again here?" She waved at the chairs they were sitting in, "Say nine am?"

The writer nodded quickly, "Yes! Yes, of course, of course! That sounds great! Uhm, I'll see you tomorrow then!" She closed her laptop and shoved it into her back, racing out the door with Anne watching from the armchair.

"See you tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to @Wolfenden56 for helping me with this dialogue.  
> You're the best (:
> 
> CW: Mentions of getting kicked out

"You two seemed to get along pretty well," Jane sat down in the now-vacated armchair. 

Anne shrugged, "She wants to design a character around me. She's a novelist."

"Sounds like your type."

Beneath her uniform, Anne's shoulder's tensed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jane looked surprised, "Really, Anne? She was obviously crushing on you, and you were _clearly_ flirting with her."

"No, I wasn't," Anne tried to keep her voice steady, but she knew Jane heard it shake, "I was just being friendly.

"So that's what we're calling it now?"

The Lieutenant bit her tongue, but forced a smile, "When did just talking become flirting? I don't remember that."

"You were obviously flirting, Annie. Not even you can be that dense."

"I was not," Anne hoped her voice was stronger than she felt, "And anyway, I don't feel attracted to anyone because of deployment."

Jane's eyebrows raised and Anne mentally kicked herself, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," The Boleyn girl answered quickly, "Just, here, can I get another croissant?"

"What happened... there?" Jane sighed.

"Nothing."

"Anne..."

"Jane, please," Anne didn't like begging, "I don't want to talk about it. Can I please get another croissant?"

"Okay," The older cousin stood up, "Another coissant, and when we're done wer're going to talk this out."

"I'm fine, honestly fine. There's nothing to talk about. I was deployed, that's all that happened: just a simple deployment."

"Yes, but-"

"Hey, Anne!"

The Lieutenant was saved from her older cousin's 'Mom Mode' and turned to Kat.

"Yeah?"

"Come here!"

"Excuse me," Anne pushed herself to her feet and limped to her younger cousin, leaning heavily on her cane. When she reached Kat, the teenager immediately started talking.

"You were totally mooning over that writer-"

"Jesus Christ!" Anne rubbed her face, "What is with you guys!"

Kat glanced at Jane, who had followed slower, "Uhm... what?"

"It was _just_ a conversation!"

"And _just_ you being your flirty self made it into a _flirt-versation,_ " Kat challenged.

"That isn't a word!" Anne's knuckles turned white as she gripped the handle of her cane.

"But you were-"

"Honestly, you lot think I love people with the click of a finger-"

"Well, yeah," Kat shrugged, "Isn't that kinda your charm?"

Anne stumbled back a few paces as if she's been punched in the face and whispered, "I should have stayed," under her breath.

"What was that?" Kat took a step toward her cousin.

"Hm? Oh, uh, nothing."

Jane glanced between her younger cousins and jumped into the conversation, "We're just excited for you, Anne. We want you to be happy."

"Just, uhm, just, just leave me alone, okay?" Anne shouldered to the door in the corner of the coffee shop that led to the loft the three cousins shared, "I'm going upstairs." 

"Hey!" Jane darted forward, "Get back here!"

Kat grabbed her cousin's arm and pushed Jane back, "Leave it. We'll talk to her later when we light the fire and get her comfortable."

Jane bit her lip, but nodded, "Okay."

True to their word, the two brought up the subject of deployment again.

"Alright," Jane sat down at the table across from her cousin, "Anne, talk to us."

"Uhm, what?"

Kat rolled her eyes, "Oh, don't give us the all-famous "What?". Give us answers. What happened during your deployment."

"I went through some crap is all," Anne shoved the nerves rising in her stomach, "So leave it, okay? I'm not in any mood to fight right now."

Jane caught a glimpse of a polaroid in her cousin's hand getting slipped into the pocket of Anne's green hoodie, "What did you go through?"

"Never you mind," The soldier shrugged, "Just... some simple things like errors in training and such."

"But you said something about not loving?-" Kat asked.

Anne got to her feet, "Just leave me alone," She grabbed her cane and started to limp away, only to be cut off by Jane.

"No," The oldest of the three barred the exit, "We are not going to let this sit. Talking about trauma is hard, sure. But the effects are only going to get worse and worse until they eat you up from the inside out."

"And don't think we haven't noticed the cane," added Kat, flicking her pink-tipped ponytail over her shoulder, "You're injured."

If Anne had never been self-conscious about the injury, she certainly was now, "S-So what?"

"So," Jane reached forward to set a hand on Anne's shoulder, only for the younger girl to flinch out of the way. Jane dropped her arm back to her side, "Not only is there mental and emotional trauma, but you were also hurt so there is physical trauma, too. We just want to help."

Anne shook her head to the ground, "You can't help, I'll just... ride it out... I don't need help! I can do this all on my own, as usual."

"We just want to help," Jane's voice was soft and concerned.

Kat got up from the table, too, "Where are your parents? What about them?"

Jane's eyes widened and she bit her lip, glancing urgently at Anne, who was clearly tense.

"I-I'm going to ignore that you just asked that," the Lieutenant spoke slowly.

"Wait, what?" Kat looked genuinely curious, "What happened?"

"We've had enough for tonight," Jane moved away from the doorway.

"Hey!" The youngest of the three cousins threw up her hands.

Anne's fingers started massaging her temples, "Both of you, get out," Quieter she added, "I need a drink..."

"Kat, go to your room," Jane nodded to the hallway.

"Excuse you!" Kat's eyes widened.

"Now please!"

The teenager growled for a few seconds, then gave in, "Fine!"

"Y-You didn't tell her?" Anne asked quietly once the two heard Kat's door slam, "You didn't tell her I ran away, that I was kicked out?"

"No," Jane shook her head, "I didn't. It's not my story. It's for you to reveal in your own time."

"But you have no problem trying to force me to talk about my service?"

"That's different."

"How?" Anne rolled her eyes, "Jane, how is it different?"

"Because it's deployment," The older woman crossed her arms, "That's a lot more serious than..." She trailed off.

"I was put in an orphanage at 14," Anne tightened her grip on the hem of her sweatshirt, "You don't think that's serious."

"You know that isn't what I meant-" Jane tried.

"War is hell, sure. But having to roam the streets alone at 13 was absolutely terrifying, and Kat has the right to know so she doesn't ask about my parents."

"Okay, okay, I'll tell her. Why don't you go to bed and we'll talk more in the morning? You still remember where your room is?"

"It was a 12-month tour, Jane, not a memory wipe," She rubbed her forehead, "I also need a shot of vodka or something..."

"What was that?" Jane's head snapped up.

"Nothing," Anne answered, "Uhm, I'm going to go for a walk first. I need to clear my head."

The older cousin nodded, "Oh, okay, uhm, just don't be out too late."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: alcohol, not very much though

_"I'm Anne."_

_The Russian soldier beside her smiled, "Irina," She says. "You,_ что за слово _, Lieu, Lieu-"_

_"Lieutenant?"_

_"_ Da! _"_

_"Yes, I'm a Lieutenant."_

_"I, a, I'm a, a Sergeant."_

_"Uhm,_ Приятно, приятно _, uhm,_ с тобой познакомиться, Ирина. _."_

 _Irina looks impressed,_ "Ты тоже, Энно."

Anne shook her head to clear it of the memory. Irina had been a Russian soldier she'd met during her deployment. They'd become close - really close.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked when Anne settled herself on a stool at a nearby bar.

"A shot of vodka, pure."

The man looked shocked but shrugged and poured the drink anyway.

Anne muttered a quiet "Thank you" and took the glass, tossing the entire thing back, and was immediately underwhelmed by the burn of the drink as she swallowed it. "This isn't hard, pure vodka," She told the bartender when she waved him back over.

The bartender raised his eyebrows, "I'm sorry, that's the hardest stuff we've got without having to do extra paperwork and check IDs."

Anne swore under her breath in French, then looked back up to the bartender, "Do you know anywhere that does serve real vodka?"

"Yeah," Anne's eyes widened with hope, but her spirits were quickly killed when the man finished with, "Russia."

"Whatever," Anne paid the bartender for her pitiful shot of vodka, grabbed her cane, and limped out of the bar before a man with much less tolerance than she did got the wrong idea.

Irina had introduced Anne to pure, hard vodka, as had the other Russian soldiers her brother and sisters-in-arms had met. Since then, any other type of alcohol had basically been synonymous with water or soda.

"No," Anne lectured herself, "Don't think of her. It's not going to bring her back..."

Jane was still awake when Anne finally returned to the apartment.

"Did you have a good walk, Anne?" The blonde woman looked up from her book.

"Yes," Anne nodded, "Uhm, I'm going to go to bed."

"Alright, love. See you in the morning sleep well."

Anne limped down the hall to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. The room hadn't changed much in the last 12 months, but it was clear that Jane had kept it clean and dust-free. Her walls were still their soft, mint green and her bed looked like it hadn't been touched since she left. Anne's Army-issued duffle sat on the floor beside her backpack, both stuffed full. She sat down beside them and rolled up the leg of her pants, revealing the prosthetic limb that kept her upright. Anne undid the straps and shimmied her residual limb out of the socket before setting her leg aside. She reached over and dug through the outer pocket of her backpack until her fingers closed around what she was looking for. Turning on the phone, she saw the unread messages from her squad.

_**Eli: I'm home. It's so strange-** _

_**Maggie: Is it weird that I miss it?** _

_**Alaric: Nah, I kind of miss it too. It was a year of our lives** _

_**Eli: Hey, Ace, how did your parents take it?** _

_**Ace: Which part? My name and my sexuality being the same or the fact that I skipped school and joined the Army?** _

_**Julia: Either** _

_**Ace: They were fine with me being ace but they were not pleased about me joining the Army.** _

_**Maggie: I told my parents that I'm gay too** _

_**Alaric: Shit- really? how'd that go?** _

_**Maggie: eh, they weren't exactly 'happy', but they said they'll try** _

_**Eli: Extra big days for both of you!** _

Anne smiled at her friends' antics as she read back through the earlier texts they'd sent to each other while on the way home. Anne's squad had been made up of ten people at the beginning of their tour, but only six at the end. The four who’d left had been Lia, Rafe, Caspian, and Blake. Lia had been killed, Caspian was MIA, Blake had been given an honorable discharge after a spinal injury, and Rafe had been transferred to another squad. The team had trained together since the academy, except for Ace who had taken their GED and enlisted. They had been the youngest on the squad, so it was an unspoken agreement between the others that they would make sure Ace made it back.

_**Anne: I'm home, too.** _

_**Maggie: Did you tell your cousins about your leg?** _

_**Anne: ...yes?** _

_**Eli: Anne** _

_**Anne: Fine, no. I didn't** _

_**Alaric: So they think you're just using a cane for kicks?** _

_**Ace: jUsT fOr KiCkS** _

_**Ace: Anne can't kick** _

_**Ace: Get it???** _

_**Julia: You know, A, sometimes I forgot you're only 19 and other times your youth is very VERY clear** _

_**Ace: you're just jealous because you wish you were as fabulous at 19 as I am *cue hair flip*** _

_**Maggie: Guys, shut up. Anne, what do they think happened to you?** _

_**Anne: no clue. I haven't told them anything.** _

_**Eli: Anne- you have to tell them sometime** _

_**Anne: I know. I will** _

_**Maggie: keep us updated, okay?** _

_**Anne: you too** _

Everyone said their goodnights and Anne turned off her phone to turn her attention to the more pressing decision: shower or sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, a huge thanks to Wolfenden56 for helping me with this chapter!

Cathy was already set up in her normal chair in the coffee shop when Anne came down.

"Morning!" Cathy grinned, "How was your day yesterday?"

Anne shrugged and sat down. "It was fine. You?"

"I spent basically all day coming up with questions," the writer admitted, "You ready to start?" She pulled out her list of questions.

The Lieutenant took a breath, then nodded, "Fire away."

"How old are you?"

"29."

"What's your favorite food?"

"Don't have one."

"Okay..." Cathy wrote down the answer, "Uhm, do you have any siblings?"

Anne shifted uncomfortably, "Uhm, yeah, I do..."

"You don't have to answer!" The writer immediately said, "Frick, I shouldn't have asked that, I'm so sorry-"

"No, no," Anne shook her head, "It-it's fine. I have a brother and sister, both older."

"Do you get along with them?"

"Uhm," Anne tugged on the dark green paracord bracelet on her wrist, "We did, more or less. My sister and I would disagree... a lot, but my brother and I were close."

Cathy hummed as she typed the answer into her computer, "Uh... what about your parents."

"A-Am, am I allowed to veto?"

"Yes! Yes, of course!" The girl in blue nodded quickly, "Definitely! You don't have to answer any questions you don't want to."

Over the next two hours, Cathy asked Anne questions ranging from her favorite animal to why she enlisted. Then:

"Have you ever been in love?"

Anne froze, "Uhm, yeah, I have." She stood up, "E-Excuse me."

She ran out of the coffee shop, ducking into an alley and pulling her phone from her pocket. She clicked on the first contact she could find.

 _"Anne?"_ Maggie asked, _"Is everything okay?"_

"Just-" Anne gasped, "Just, t-talk."

 _"I- uhm, okay,"_ Maggie started talking about the girl she'd seen at a craft store near her home.

Listening to her friend's voice eventually brought Anne the rest of the way out of her head and she slid to the floor. Maggie and Anne had worked together a lot on the field and were consistently selected for small team missions where teams of two were desirable.

_"You okay, Green?"_

Anne smiled at the nickname, "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay."

_"Hey, uhm, have you talked to Lina recently?"_

"Not really, I've been meaning to call her, but I've barely been home a day and my cousins are suspicious about my leg and...everything, you know?"

_"Right, yeah."_

The two talked until Anne felt ready to go back inside, only to find Cathy still in the armchair.

"You okay?" The writer asked, looking up when she heard Anne.

The Lieutenant nodded, "Yeah, sorry about that. I just... love is an uncomfortable topic for me."

"Of course," Cathy bit her lip, "Right, yeah, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean- Dammit, uhm, I, uh, I totally understand if you don't want to continue, so, erm-"

Anne sat down in the armchair across from the writer, "No, no it's okay. Uhm, I'm better now. I just, yeah, as long as we can steer clear of topics about, you know, _that._ "

"Yes, yes!" The writer nodded quickly, "Yes, definitely. Do you want to continue now, or...?"

"No, no, it's okay, let's do this. I'm okay," Anne took a breath and controlled her features, "So, uhm, novelist, what's your plan?"

Cathy swallowed and looked back at her notes, "I-I, uhm, I want my character to be as authentic as possible so, uhm... Can you tell me a bit about, you know, deployment and stuff?"

Anne bit her lip and looked around, checking who was and wasn't there. It was eleven o'clock on a Thursday so most of the shop's usually customers were either at work or school, and Jane, Kat, and Anna had gone to lunch - according to Cathy - leaving the two of them alone.

So, Anne started to talk. She didn't give all the details, of course, and skipped over the more... gruesome parts, before she finally came full circle. "So... yeah, that's that."

Cathy was staring at her with wide eyes, "I, uhm, right, er, is deployment... that bad?"

Anne shrugged, "You could say that."

"That, uhm... it," The writer shook her head, "It sounds like... like, Hell."

"You could say that."

"Why do you not wear your, uhm, badges? Or awards, or whatever they're called."

The Lieutenant shifted in her seat, "Oh, uhm... a, uh, a few got taken away in Russia and few were..." she shuddered, "Were...given in Russia."

"Interesting," Cathy scribbled down some notes, "Uhm, how many places have you been to?"

Anne's gaze moved down to her lap and she crossed her legs, "A lot."

She realized too late that her ankle was on display, and that Cathy had seen.

"Anne-"

"Don't," The Lieutenant immediately moved her leg back and pushed her pant leg back down over her prosthetic.

"That was-"

"I know."

Cathy's eyes were wide, "Do- your cousins, do they know?"

"No."

"You should tell them."

Anne jumped to her feet, "No, okay? No."

"Why not?"

"Because then they'll worry about me and I don't want them to worry about me."

Cathy's eyebrows lowered in confusion, "But, but they're your family? Surely they should know?"

"I can deal with it by myself."

"But... Anne, a prosthetic, that-that's a big deal."

Anne rolled her eyes and grabbed her cane, "It's nothing I can't deal with. It's fine. See," She paced the floor in unsteady steps, "I can walk. I'm fine." When she stopped, Cathy was confused by the look of fear on the soldier's face, "Please... Cathy, don't tell them. I promise I'll tell them eventually, just... not yet."

Cathy bit her lip, but nodded, "Fine. I won't tell them."

"Thank you," She slumped back down into the armchair and released a breath, "Thank you."

"But you should," Cathy pressed, "They can help."

"I don't need help."

"But what if you ever did."

Anne smiled, "I'm not sure I like this game."

"You're not supposed to," The writer answered jokingly.

"What's the next question?"

Cathy flipped through her notes, "I, er, uhm, that's it."

"Really?" The Lieutenant's face fell slightly, "Well, uhm, I'll, uh, I'll let you go then."

"Hey, uhm," The writer stood up, "Thanks for agreeing to this."

Anne smiled, "Yeah, of course, anytime. Hey, uhm, let me know if there's anything else I can do, yeah?"

"Definitely." Cathy picked up her stuff and Anne watched, once again, as she left the coffee shop.

The soldier sat in silence for a few moments, then fished in her pocket and drew out her phone to dial her friend's number.

Immediately the voice of Catalina de Aragon, or just Lina as the squad had called her, buzzed through.

_"ANNE BOLEYN! YOU BETTER HAVE ONE HELL OF AN EXCUSE FOR NOT CALLING ME!"_

Anne laughed, "You just said Hell-"

Silence, then the soft voice of Lina murmuring a quiet prayer reached her ear, followed quickly by, _"That doesn't excuse why you didn't call me back."_

"I'm home," the Lieutenant explained softly, "I got back yesterday and have just been so busy that I forgot."

 _"Sí,"_ Lina sighed, _"That is a pretty good excuse. What's it like being back?"_

"Strange," Anne admitted, "My cousins, the shop, Anna, they're all the same, but I'm different."

She could almost see her friend shrug, _"Makes sense, mija. I mean, you were gone for 12 months and you lost your leg. They have to understand that you have some trauma to work through."_

"Uhm... You see, erm, they may or may not know about my leg."

_"Anne Boleyn, have you not told them you're an amputee?"_

"Technically, Ms. Aragon, I'm not an amputee."

 _"Technically,"_ Lina copied her tone, _"You are. It hadn't fully been blown off when we treated you."_

Anne mocked a gasp of shock, "Betrayal! My life is a lie."

_"Cállate, Verde."_

"Such language! How will I _ever_ recover."

Lina was silent for a few moments, then said, _"If you don't shut up right now, I will, personally, track you down and I will take your leg back."_

"You wouldn't," Anne felt herself smile.

_"Oh, I would. But in all seriousness, Anne, how are you?"_

"I'm fine."

_"Anne?"_

"I miss you, and I miss the squad, and... yeah."

_"That's it."_

"What?"

_"Nothing. See you soon."_

"Lina?" Anne called her friend's name as the line went dead, "Hello?" Pocketing her phone again, Anne stood up, "Welp. This could only end in disaster."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wolfenden56 helped with the dialogue again. Seriously - I should make you a co-author.

Kat was at the counter when a tall woman entered the coffee shop.

"Can I help you?"

The woman nodded, "Yeah, uhm, I'm looking for someone."

"Who?"

"Someone I hate; Anne Boleyn."

"Uhm-" Kat took a step back.

Lucky for her, Anne walked into the shop and stopped short when she saw the woman, "Aragon?"

The woman smiled, "Bo-Loser!"

Anne limp-ran over to the woman and threw her arms around Aragon's neck, who immediately hugged back. "Oh my God, I missed you."

"What the-" Kat blinked at the two, "Jane?-"

The older woman shrugged, "I don't know." She stepped forward, "Uhm, excuse me, how do you two know each other?"

Anne turned to her cousins and said, "War," completely deadpan.

"War?" Kat glanced at her cousins.

Jane recovered faster, "Oh, nice to meet... you, uhm..."

Aragon shook her head as if she remembered something, "Aragon," She said, "Catalina de Aragon. Anne and I met in Spain after her troop fled from France."

"I... see," Jane blinked, "Wait a minute, you guys had to _flee_?"

"...dammit," Anne rubbed her eyes, "Aragon, you're so dead."

"You're a shortie, I can take you," The Spaniard teased.

"Ugh," The Lieutenant glared up at her friend, "I hate you."

Jane waved to catch her cousin's attention, "Why did you have to flee from France, Anne?"

"I was transported," Anne shrugged, "I wasn't escaping from anything."

"Sure," snorted Aragon.

"Shut up."

"Does this have anything to do with the cane?" Jane crossed her arms.

"Yes," The Spaniard whispered just barely loud enough for Jane to hear.

Anne elbowed her friend's side, "No."

Jane rolled her eyes, "Alright, you two, upstairs. We're going to talk because I am definitely being lied to."

The two soldiers glanced at each other then said, "Drinks first, and then we'll talk," together.

"I'll allow coffee, but no alcohol."

"Fine," Anne agreed, "Nothing here is strong enough to get me drunk, anyway."

Aragon grinned, "Oh yeah... that Russian vodka was amazing."

"Shh!" Anne gripped her friend's arm.

"Russian vodka?" Kat repeated.

"Whoops," Aragon shrugged.

Anne dragged Aragon out of the shop, calling over her shoulder, "We'll be back."

On the street, the Lieutenant released her grip and Aragon rubbed the red mark on her arm, "Jane doesn't know?"

"Neither of them do." Anne shook her head, "Let me get drunk, then I'll babble on about the truth for her."

"Alright," Aragon agreed hesitantly, "Just go easy on the vodka."

"When did you become my bartender?"

"Anne..."

"I'm fine."

"I didn't ask if you were fine," The Spaniard crossed her arms.

Anne scoffed, "You might as well have."

"Hey," Aragon caught the smaller woman's shoulders, "Come on, it's me."

"Whatever happens tonight, Lina," The Lieutenant sighed, "Pleae, _please_ , don't let me tell Jane about my leg, or ... _her_."

"And you're telling me you want to get drunk? You're bloody mad, _Sombrerero loco._ "

Anne rolled her eyes, "I am not the Mad Hatter."

"Okay," Aragon smiled, "But consider this: tell Jane about _her_ and maybe you might feel better?"

"Was that a joke?"

"Come on, Anne, it was a major event, and it led you your leg."

Anne stopped short on the sidewalk, "It is not Irina's fault I lost my leg."

"Okay," Aragon raised her hands in surrender.

"It was her Captain," Anne glared, "It's his fault."

"Right, sure, yes, of course."

"If he hadn't..." She stopped, "Never mind. Now, I want to get drunk."

An hour later, the two friends arrived back at the cousins' shared apartment.

"Where have you been?" Jane demanded.

Anne smiled, "Drinks."

"I told you no alcohol."

Aragon rolled her eyes, "See."

Anne shrugged, "Relax. Nothing here is strong enough to get me drunk, only a little bit tipsy." She took a step forward, only to stumble and have Aragon catch her.

"Uhm, yeah.. She's a lot more drunk than I intended her to be," The Spaniard looked apologetically at Jane, who rubbed her temples.

"How many did she have?"

"Seven."

Anne laughed and shook her head, "I had nine."

"How?" Aragon asked.

"Bartender gave me a double shot."

The Spaniard sighed, "Oh, dear."

"Very well," Jane shook her head, "Sit down. Let's talk."

Anne stumbled over to a chair, nearly falling into it, "What?"

Aragon rubbed her forehead, "Jesus Christ, you're drunker than Ralph was that one time."

Anne glared at her as Jane asked,

"Who's Ralph."

The Lieutenant was sober enough to answer, "Uh, no one! Just an old friend of mine, right, Aragon?"

"Right!"

Jane did not look convinced, "Okay..."

"So," Anne grinned widely, "What do you want to talk about?"

"You."

"Like... what about me?" She asked, "Do you want to know my favorite color or all of my unresolved childhood and adulthood trauma?"

This drew a laugh from Aragon, but only drew lines of concern deeper into Jane's face.

"Either?"

Anne giggled, "Well, my favorite color is green for two reasons: number 1, green is great. And 2, it was the color of _her_ eyes."

"Dammit," Aragon rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Who's her?" Jane pressed.

"Oh," The Lieutenant laughed, "My absolute joy and love of the world-"

"I think you've had enough for tonight, Annie," Aragon got to her feet.

Anne glared at her, "I've had enough of you telling me what to do!"

"Who's this girl?" Jane repeated.

"She was someone who loved me more than my own parents," Anne said wistfully.

"Oh, Anne," The older of the two cousins' eyes turned sympathetic.

"Too bad she's," the soldier made a popping noise with her mouth.

"Does that mean?..."

Aragon nodded at Jane, "An explosion, yep."

"Not like she loved me anyway, right?" Anne laughed, but both of the other women could see the tears in her eyes, "Nobody would ever try."

Jane swallowed, "She's definitely had too much."

"I'll get her to bed," Aragon gently pulled the smaller girl to her feet.

"I can do it," The blonde offered.

"No, I think she'd prefer me," The Spaniard smiled softly, "Especially when she wakes up with a hangover."

The Lieutenant whimpered from where she was leaned against Aragon, "Now she's gone..."

Jane bit her lip, "What, uhm, what happened to her?"

Aragon rubbed her friend's back, "A lot."

Jane watched as the two started to slowly make their way down the hall, then she remembered what she'd been meaning to offer, "Hey, uhm, do you have a place to stay tonight?"

Aragon turned back, "No, uhm, I was just going to check into a hotel or something."

"You can stay here," Jane waved to a closed door, "I have a spare room."

"Oh..." The Spaniard smiled, "Thanks."

Once again, Anne made a choked noise, but this one sounded more like a laugh than a sob.

"What happened?"

Aragon shook her head, "Anne will have to tell you that."

"Okay," Jane nodded, rubbing her hands together nervously, "Right, yeah. When she's not drunk, though."

"Agreed."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, Wolfenden56, I owe you (:
> 
>   
> CW: Homophobia, murder

Anne lay awake most of the night. She knew everyone was asleep, and that she should be too, but everything about her room felt weird and wrong, especially when she woke up in the middle of the night and no one was next to her.

While fighting, she had often slept between Maggie and Julia with Alaric, Ace, and Eli not too far away. Then, they'd joined forces with the Russian troops and there had been even more people sleeping side-by-side. Irina, Anya, Natalya, and Raisa had joined the girls, and Anton, Makar, Pavel, Yustin, Taras, and Viktor had joined the boys and Ace. Responsibilities would be shared between the five squads sharing the camp - three British, one Russian, and one American - then they would run drills together and learn from other countries. Anne had become almost conversationally fluent in Russian by the time their troops separated, mostly because of Irina. 

The Lieutenant forced herself to sit up and think about something other than Irina, the Russian Sergeant she'd fallen in love with. Irina, the lesbian hidden so far deep into the closet that as soon as she knew Anne was bi, she started crying. Irina, who bit the bullet when her CO caught her and Anne kissing.

Anne swung her leg over the side of her bed and carefully hopped over to her duffle, which was now sitting on her desk rather than the floor. She leaned against the chair as she dug through her bag until her fingers closed around the box of medals she's hidden deep inside. Pulling it out, she hopped back to her bed, grabbing her prosthetic as she went. She attached the plastic and metal leg to her residual limb, then opened the box and stared at its contents. The medals, photographs, and polaroids were stacked to the top, most hindering how the box closed.

She pulled the polaroids out first and looked through the shots. There was one of Damion, one of the Americans, playing Scrabble with Alaric. They had argued for hours about whether the word was favourite or favorite and which one was an acceptable answer before eventually settling on the speller's choice. The other photos were more of Anne and her brothers and sisters-in-arms, sometimes they were in full-uniform other times they were just relaxing and playing games. Jacquline, another one of the Americans, had brought Uno cards and so had Eli, so they combined the decks after marking which cards were whose and the five squads played a huge game of Uno. 

The last polaroid she found in the pile was of her and Irina, and it had been taken by Ace two nights before Irina was killed. The two were huddled against each other and the Russian was reading to Anne by flashlight. The next memory the Lieutenant pulled from the box was a medal. Nothing too special, but this one was a guilt medal and it immediately sent Anne over the edge. She collapsed to the floor and started sobbing, which was followed quickly by her throwing the award across the room, which drew Jane's attention.

"What are you doing?" The older of the three cousins went to pick up the piece of metal and ribbon on the floor.

"NO!" Anne shouted through her tears, "I hate that medal! LEAVE IT!"

"What?" Jane looked at it, "What's wrong with it?"

"It's a guilt medal, and I HATE IT! DROP IT!"

"A-a guilt medal? Anne, what does that mean?"

The Lieutenant laughed, "Why do you need to know? It's not like you were there. It's not like you even saw what I saw, you're clueless!"

"Let's get you back to bed."

"No," Anne stood up, "I need a drink."

Jane blocked her path, "No alcohol."

"Just one more-"

"No," The woman gently pushed Anne back to her bed, "You are not going to become a drunk like Kat's mom. She'll be terrified."

"I don't care."

"Excuse you."

Anne rolled her eyes and held out her hand, "Give me the medal. I'm going to burn it."

"Why does it mean so much?" Jane asked, holding the award out of Anne's reach, "And why do you hate it enough to burn it?"

"Because!" the soldier cried, swiping angrily at her tears, "Someone's blood was shed on it! Now give me it! Give it, Jane! Now!"

"No, not until you tell me why you've been acting this way: crying over a polaroid, crying over a medal. I know Aragon knows something I don't. You can't hide anything from me, Annie. I practically raised you."

Anne deflated and leaned forward, her head resting against Jane's stomach, "Just give it to me... p-please.."

Jane rubbed circles on her cousin's back and lowered her voice, "No. I know it's cruel, love, but no. Tell me what's going on, or I'm not giving the medal back so you can burn it."

"Fine!" Anne pulled away from her cousin and jumped to her feet, "Okay! I got it for killing someone!

The older woman's eyes widened, "I-"

"NO!" Anne shook her head, "NO! You don't get to talk! Ever since I've gotten home, you have been trying to get me to tell you what happened so here it is: I killed someone! Many someones, actually."

"Anne-"

"BUt this person, the kill - no the _murder_ \- that got me that medal," She pointed to Jane's hand, "It was someone who didn't deserve to die! She was gay and so far deep in the closet that the second I told her I was bi... she became so much happier and we, we fell in love." Anne slumped against her bed, "Then, her, her captain found us kissing and..." She put her hands over the back of her head and Jane had to listen closely to hear what she said next. "Either I killed her, or we both died. She said I should kill her because I-I had a family to, to come home to. She, she p-put the gun in my hands a-and made me pull the trigger."

Jane's gasped quietly, "Oh, Annie-"

The Lieutenant's voice broke, "I-I killed her, Jane... I killed her... It's all my fault! I-I pulled that trigger! I p-pulled it, and he smiled. The bastard _SMILED AS I DID IT_ , no wonder I'm such a screw-up! No wonder my parents kicked me out for being bi... I'm a mistake..."

"No, no, Anne," Jane shook her head, "No you're not. You are human, and you went through this alone... It's, it's inhuman, it's outrageous, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry you were put through this much just for being who you are."

Anne ran her nails across the back of her neck as she started to rock back and forth, "Maybe... maybe it's me who has to change... It's what made me get kicked out in the first place: _being myself._ And, like my dad will accept me 17 years later. I go into the Army to try and have some self-worth and I end up feeling worthless. I _am_ worthless. I killed my lover, I killed so many innocent people when I was out there... So much blood and failure, how can I just be myself? How can I be this murderer and disappointment, and still be _me?"_

Jane was silent for a few moments, then asked quietly, "Can I hug you?"

The soldier immediately cringed away from her cousin, "I-I don't, I don't want to hurt you. Not like I've hurt everyone else."

"You won't hurt me."

"P-promise?"

"I promise."

Anne nodded, "T-then, then yes."

Jane quickly wrapped her arms around her younger cousin, "You are not a failure," She whispered, "You are not a disappointment, and you are _definitely_ not a murderer. You are Anne Boleyn-"

"But Anne Boleyn is a murderer. I killed her, I killed Irina."

"From the way you told that story, her captain killed her, and he would've killed you too."

"But he didn't. Rina died, not me."

"I am so sorry, Annie, so sorry."

Anne started crying again and Jane started rocking her younger cousin gently back and forth like she used to do when Anne was a teenager.

"I know what you're doing," The Lieutenant whispered softly, rubbing her face against Jane's shoulder when her cousin started humming quietly under her breath.

Jane gently ran a finger up Anne's nose and across her forehead, "And?"

The younger woman pressed closer to her older cousin and took a deep breath, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments, feedback, and/or requests of things you would like that I make a point of putting in. I love hearing from you!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Wolfenden56 for helping me once again
> 
> https://www.pinterest.com/pin/763149099347435802/
> 
> CW: mentions of an ambush and alcoholism

Two weeks had gone by since Anne had her break down over Irina. Jane had confiscated the guilt medal, and any other medals Anne wanted her to take and had hidden them in the bottom of one of her drawers. Kat's birthday was in two days and the cousins(and Anna) would be throwing a party in the café for her.

Anne had kept her leg a secure secret for the entire time with only Cathy who knew, save all her Army friends. Aragon had left after two days, only after Anne had promised to stay away from alcohol and to take care. Aragon knew Anne had had some issues with alcohol while on tour and didn't want her to fall into the same habits.

"Come in!" Anne called as someone rapped their knuckles against her door.

"We're going to bake a cake for Kat's party," Jane poked her head into Anne's room, "Want to join?"

Anne nodded, "Yeah, I'll be right there."

"Awesome," Jane grinned and closed the door behind her.

Anne flipped back her blankets and pulled the foot of her prosthetic into her reach so she could pull a sock over it, then limped to her family in the kitchen.

"Annie!" Kat jumped on her cousin, "You're here!"

"Of course," Anne nodded, "Now, what do you need me to do?"

"Can you work with Kat to draw the cake she wants?" Jane looked up from where she was adding pink food coloring to frosting.

Anne slid into a chair and took the paper and pencil offered to her by her cousin, "Sure. So, Kat, what is this cake going to look like?"

Turns out, Kat wanted what almost looked like a wedding cake, just pink.

"Jane," Anne spun the page around so her cousin could see, "Look at this."

The blonde wiped her hands on a towel and looked at the sketch, "That's going to be a lot of baking, Kat. Are you up for it?"

"Yes! Let's do this!" Kat jumped off her seat and raced to Jane's side. Anne got unsteadily to her feet and leaned on her cane as they baked. 

"Is your leg okay?" Jane asked when Anne continued to shift her weight between her feet and cane when phantom pains started to settle in after standing on it for two hours.

The Lieutenant nodded, "Yeah, yeah, of course. Hey, I have an idea. Why don't I go decorate downstairs?"

"By yourself?" Kat look surprised.

"I mean, sure," Anne shrugged, "Why not."

The youngest of the three cousins grinned, "I'll come too!"

"No," Anne shook her head, "It has to be a surprise."

"But..." Kat pouted, "It's my birthday."

"So what?" Anne teased, "Ever heard of surprises?"

Eventually, Jane and Kat let her go and Anne limped down the stairs to the coffee shop.

"Hey!"

"Jesus Christ!-" Anne gripped the handle of her cane, then she recognized the faces in the coffee shop, "Oh my God!"

Limping forward, she threw her arms around the necks of her squad.

"Surprise!" Eli laughed in her ear.

"What are you all doing here?" Anne passed her cane off to Ace, who was waving it at Julia as if it were a fencing sword.

"Your cousins called us," Alaric rubbed Anne's shoulder, "They said you could use some friends."

"Surprise."

Anne turned around to see Jane and Kat watching from behind the counter with matching grins on their faces.

"How did you find them?" Behind Alaric's back, Anne took Maggie's hand.

Jane crossed her arms, "Your CO. We got in contact with him-"

"Them," Ace corrected, looking up from Anne's cane, "Our CO uses he/they, but prefers they/them."

Jane nodded, "Right, yes, thank you. We got in contact with them and they connected us to your squad."

"We wanted to give you a surprise," Kat leaned into her cousin.

"But," Anne's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "But it's your birthday. You're the one who should be getting surprises."

She shrugged, "I like seeing you smile."

The Lieutenant beamed at her cousins, then slapped Alaric on the back of his head, making him laugh, "Alright, idiots," She said, "Who wants to play Uno?"

"NO!" Julia groaned, "OW!" She jumped as Ace slapped her with Anne's cane, making in the nineteen-year-old cheer.

"What's so bad about Uno?" Jane asked.

Ace grinned widely, "Someone almost always ends up hating someone else. It was especially bad when Taras lost," They laughed, "That man could really hold a grudge." Ace's eyes landed on Kat and they immediately set Anne's cane to the ground and leaned on it, "Hey, the name's Ace."

Kat rolled her eyes, "I'm gay."

Ace shrugged, "Nice, I'm ace."

"So you've said."

They blushed, "No, no, I mean I'm ace, like asexual."

"So your name is Ace and your sexuality is... ace?" Jane tipped her head, "Doesn't that ever get confusing?"

"I mean," they shrugged, "Kind of. There were times when I didn't know if Alaric was calling me by my name or calling me by my sexuality."

Alaric snorted, "If I were calling you by your name, I would've called you McAclister."

Ace spun on their heel, "You little-" They launched themself at Alaric, only to have Eli jump in front.

"Enough you two. We settle this like soldiers," He reached into his jacket and pulled out a familiar red box, "Fight it out via Uno."

"I thought Uno was a fun thing you did?" Jane questioned.

Anne shrugged, "Ace, cane." The teenager tossed back the black cane and Anne limped closer to her cousins, "It's both. We used to play Uno with the other troops we were camped with. It became a way to settle any differences really and create new ones. I still haven't forgiven Maddison, an American soldier, for when she gave me six 'Draw 2' cards in a row." She shook her head, "I stared her down the entire game."

"Wait," Kat narrowed her eyes in confusion, "Wouldn't you have been sitting beside each other?"

"We play across," Alaric explained, "The card you put down affects the person sitting directly across from you," he shrugged, "Makes it more interesting."

"But those aren't the rules," Jane raised an eyebrow.

"All's fair in war and Uno," Julia shouted from across the room.

"I think the quote's "All's fair in love and war"," Corrected Alaric.

Julia shrugged, "Can't both be true." She finished shuffling her half of the cards and passed them to Eli, who combined them with his own half of the deck.

Anne smiled at her squad, then looked at her cousins, "Thanks for inviting them. Truly, it means a lot."

"Have fun."

"What?" The Lieutenant raised her eyebrows, "You're not playing?"

Kat shook her head, "We hadn't planned on it."

"Come on," Anne reached for her cousin's arm, "Play with us!" She turned and looked at her friends, who were setting up the game, "What do you say, Yeti Crabs? Do we want Jane and Kat to play with us?"

There was a chorusing, "Hell yeah!" from the five soldiers around the table.

"Yeti Crabs?" asked Jane through a laugh.

Alaric grinned, "They're blind little sea creatures that live on the ocean floor."

"And they smell like eggs," Julia added.

"How do you know that?" Kat glanced at the group of soldiers.

Eli shrugged, "I studied marine bio in high school and I loved the midnight zone, especially crabs and squid. When we were thinking of a name, Yeti Crabs was the unanimous choice."

"What were the other choices?" Jane smiled.

Anne shrugged, but it was Alaric who answered.

"Sea Pigs, Vampire Squids, Water Bears was on the table too."

"And you went with Yeti Crabs?"

Anne shrugged, "I mean," she raised her paracord bracelet, where do you think these colors came from?"

Jane looked at the multicolored rope bracelet on her cousin's wrist. "Green, grey, and white?"

"Damn!" Maggie grinned, "It's been a while since I've seen that color scheme."

"You have one too?" Kat looked at the woman.

"We all do," She shrugged, "Dani taught us how when we were all in Spain after that ambush-"

"Maggie!" Anna spun on her squadmate.

"Ambush?" Jane repeated, "Anne, love, what's she talking about?"

"Nothing," The Lieutenant gripped the handle of her cane tightly, "Nothing, Jane. It's, it's fine. And yes, we all have paracord bracelets. We've all got two, actually. One was made as a squad bracelet, like this one, with our color codename and the "squad colors" so to speak, and the other is red, blue, and white for the UK." She laughed to herself, "It was amusing, actually, because America, Russia, and England all share the colors so we just made different patterns."

Ace snorted, "We had _a lot_ of time on our hands."

"Anyway," Eli shook his head and held up the card deck, "Uno? We can argue about our bracelets later."

Anne grinned and pushed up her sleeves, limping over to her friends and slipping into an empty chair beside Julia. The two soldiers grinned at each other, then looked back to the game as Eli started dealing out cards. 

"So..." Kat reached for her cards.

"No!" Alaric caught her hands, "Don't."

"But I need to see my cards?"

"Every time a card gets put down and it's your turn, you can look at two cards before you either have to draw or put one down," explained Eli. "It's basically a game of memory between the cards you still have, the cards you've put down, and where you have each card."

Anne smirked at her cousin, "Welcome to Army Uno." She looked at Eli, "You first."

Ace tapped their cards as Eli flipped the starting card over and peeked at two in his own hand.

"Annie is the best at Uno," they said, watching the other soldier as she tapped a rhythm on her cane. 

"Lets beat her then," Maggie shrugged, looking at two of her own cards when Eli put down a blue 7. 

Anne snorted, "You can't beat the Master, no matter how hard you try. There's a reason I was in charge of remembering codes and maps."

"That's because you were too stubborn to let us help!" Ace threw up their hands.

Eli nodded, "Yeah!"

"Was not!"

Her squad rolled their eyes, "Was too!"

Jame smiled, "Our Anne? Stubborn?" She flashed her cousin a sarcastic glance, "No way."

"Okay," Anne rolled her eyes, "What is this? Pick-on-Anne-day?"

"Do we have one of those?" Julia raised her head, only to be slapped playfully by Eli.

"No," Maggie shook her head, "It's an intervention," She deadpanned.

"Haha," The Lieutenant scoffed.

Julia put down a card, "Let's make this interesting, shall we?"

Ace's eyes widened, "How so?"

Kat and Jane exchanged a look of confusion as Anne looked at the card set down by Alaric across from her.

"+4? Seriously, Al, again?"

"What?" Maggie grinned, "Is Number One salty they came second?"

"Still salty about coming second in the shooting range?" Anne shot back, shamelessly drawing four cards from the deck.

Ace rolled their eyes, "Guyyyssss, stop. We all know Anne got lucky. She has a cheapshot."

"Shoulda seen her with the practice guns," Julia shorted.

"Wait," Jane looked around the table, "I'm confused."

Anne barely glanced up, "About which part? My marksmanship or the game?"

It was Kat who answered next, "Both. I didn't know you could shoot a gun and I have no idea how this game is being played."

"Kitty, just follow my lead," Anne grinned.

"And what?" teased Maggie, "Make her lose."

"Salty," Anne whispered to Julia beside her.

"She's definitely salty," Ace put down their own card.

Alaric looked at Anne's cousins, "Also, she's a soldier. Of course, she can shoot a gun."

Anne shrugged, "Honestly, throwing grenades were more fun."

Jane nearly choked on her water.

"It wasn't fun for the rest of us," Julia snorted, "Remember that time you dropped it."

"Y-You dropped a grenade?" Jane demanded as Anne blushed.

"We were still in training," The Boleyn girl defended, "Besides, I picked it right back up and threw it."

Ace shook their head, "It exploded in mid-air."

"And you killed a bird," Eli added.

Julia nodded, "And you nearly killed me and Maggie."

"What in the-" Jane rubbed her forehead.

"You were trying to show off that day," Maggie teased, grinning.

Anne narrowed her eyes and put down a red 4, "What would I be doing showing off to you?"

"Oh, we all know what that was about," Ace wiggled their eyebrows as they slapped down a red reverse card.

"Damnit, Ace!" Maggie groaned.

"Ace," Anne warned and the younger soldier's face twisted in realization.

"Shit, sorry-"

"Uhm," Kat looked around at the six soldiers, "What just happened?"

"Nothing."

Maggie broke the awkward silence, "The fracking Uno reverse card!"

"I just _aced_ this game in a nutshell," They flipped what tiny locks of hair they had over their shoulder.

"Really?" Anne rolled her eyes, "Puns?"

"There's always time for puns," Ace glared playfully.

"Hey, Ace," Julia put down her own card, "You used to do this to me at 2 am when I was eating my rations."

Eli nearly fell off his chair, "Remember when Anne and Julia got stuck in that door?"

Anne groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, "No, nope, not that story!"

"Eli..." Julia groaned, leaning against Anne.

"That sounds like you guys just bashed into it," Jane looked at the two soldiers.

Kat grinned, "It being Anne and her brain cells, she probably did." 

Alaric put down a +4, making Eli groan. "The new color is teal."

"Teal?" Kat repeated, "But there are only blue, red, green, and yellow cards."

"Teal means that either blue or green cards are acceptable," Anne explained as a grumbling Maggie drew four fresh cards from the deck.

"Wait," Jane shook her head, "So what is this story about getting stuck in a door?"

Anne shrugged, "We were running from shots and we both went through the door at the same time."

"Like..." Kat lowered her voice, "Gunshots?"

"Yes," Julia nodded.

Ace snorted, "Nope. They're just both really scared of needles."

The Boleyn grabbed the Uno box from Eli's side and threw it at them. "Can I say proudly," She added, "I'm no longer afraid of needles."

Eli raised an eyebrow, "So if I were to get the needle in my duffle and poke you, you wouldn't start crying?"

"Annie," Ace sighed, "Just admit it, you're not as brave as I am."

Anne rolled her eyes, "Oh, yeah, well Officer Cadet McAlister, what do you say after this we go bowling?" Ace paled, making the others laugh.

"And I," Julia put down one of her cards, "Am not afraid of needles."

"Sure," The other members of the squad, save Anne, said.

Jane hesitantly put down her own card, "I didn't know you were afraid of needles, Anne."

"Yeah, uhm, it wasn't really a problem here," She shrugged, "You know, whenever I got vaccines or whatnot, I could just close my eyes and turn on music really loud. But, out there..."

Maggie rubbed her friend's shoulders and finished the explanation, "There are a lot fewer options in combat when it comes to medical treatment."

"We've all stitched each other up before," Ace added.

Kat looked pale as she nodded slowly, "That sounds... terrifying."

Julia forced a smile and shrugged, "Bonding experiences."

"Anne cut her finger once," Eli jumped in, "Then she yelled at me for saying she was going to get it cut off."

"I did not!"

Ace leaned back in their chair, "I am a witness of that catastrophic argument."

"Overdramatic argument," Maggie corrected, earning a "Yep" from Julia.

Anne crossed her arms, "I am not overdramatic."

"Oh really?" Alaric looked up slightly from his cards.

"There's no way anyone can be some sort of gay and not be some sort of dramatic," Ace shrugged.

Anne feigned a glare at them, "That's a stereotype."

Without missing a beat, the younger soldier scoffed and said, "You're a stereotype."

Jane leaned forward and rested her forearms on the table, "Ace, how old are you?"

"Nineteen."

Kat's eyes widened, "And you've already fought in a war?"

Ace shifted nervously, "Yeah, uhm, my parents weren't too thrilled."

"Yeah," Julia nodded as Alaric rubbed Ace's arm, "They took Senior Ditch Day to the extreme and didn't come back until 12 months later."

Eli cleared his throat, "I'm surprised Anne hasn't used the wildcard in her hand yet."

Alaric threw up his hands, "Great way to ruin the game, dipshi-"

"Language!" Jane cried reflexively, coming out of her state of shock from Ace's age. 

"Yes, Mom," the soldiers and Kat all murmured.

Anne turned to face Eli, "To answer your unasked question, I'm saving it."

"Well..." Julia snorted, "That's ominous."

The Lieutenant stared at Ace, "Watch your back."

They put a hand over their heart, "You know, a month ago you also said that to me. It was a lot more loving then."

"Well," Anne rolled her eyes, "Next time we're being ambushed in France-"

"Excuse me?" Jane interrupted, "What?"

Anne dropped her head into her hands a whispered, "Shit-"

Maggie lowered her hands to the table, "Anne?"

"Seriously?"

"Do they not?-"

"Julia, stop speaking."

"Anne-"

The Boleyn girl put up her hands, "Come on, guys. I've already got the lecture from Aragon."

Alaric folded his large arms across his chest, "Clearly it didn't stick."

"I think we missed something," Kat leaned toward Jane, who whispered back, "Me too."

"You did," Julia confirmed, "Anne, tell them."

Instead, Anne got to her feet and took the handle of her cane, "I've had enough Uno for tonight."

"Nah uh," Julia gripped her friend's wrist.

"Oi!" Ace shouted out, "Don't you dare, get back here."

Maggie nodded, "You are not leaving until you tell your cousins."

Alaric got up and gently sat Anne back down in her chair. He kept his hands on her shoulders and moved the dark green cane just out of her reach. Leaning down, he whispered, "We've got you. Just tell them," in her ear.

Anne leaned slightly into his hands, "Fine. We were in an ambush," She started slowly and refused to meet the concerned gazes of her cousins, "We were going through France on our way to Italy when we were attacked. We were close enough to the Spanish border that we could flee. That's where we met Aragon and her troop. They helped us."

"Anne," Jane leaned forward, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because," Anne took a deep breath, "It isn't important."

"Green," Maggie bit her lip, "Try again."

The Lieutenant glared at her, "Fine. I didn't because I didn't want to."

"Why didn't you want to?" Kat asked quietly.

When Anne didn't answer, Ace stepped in. "Because trauma is hard."

Alaric's hands released some of their pressure and Anne immediately stood up, only to have her friends immediately start telling her to sit down.

"Guys," She groaned, "I just want to go to bed!"

"No," Ace shook their head, "You want to talk this out fabulously."

"Come on, Little Green," Maggie smiled.

Julia nodded, "if we get to know, they do too."

"I agree with Julia," Alaric's gravelly voice weighed in.

It was Eli's turn to groan, "Oh my God, _of course_ Alaric would agree with Jules."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alaric asked.

"You give a woman two pints of blood and suddenly you're joined at the hip!"

Kat paled once more, "T-two... pints?"

Alaric walked around the table and retook his seat, "This old discussion?"

"Yeah, really, Eli?" Anne agreed.

"Come on, dude."

Jane looked around the table, "I-"

Anne took their distraction as an escape and stood up, "I'm off to bed. I'll see you guys."

"Make sure she doesn't have vodka!" Her squadmates all said at the same time.

Anne spun around, "I- guys! Shut up!"

"Check," Kat answered.

"Why don't I go with you, Annie?" Maggie got to her feet.

"Mags-" Anne rolled her eyes.

"Great!" The British Army Major grinned.

Anne groaned, then turned and glared at Alaric, "You did this!"

Eli smirked and waved, "Bye, Green. Sleep well."

"Shut up, Eli!" The Lieutenant rolled her eyes, only for the man to call, "Love you, too!" After them.

"Make sure you dream about me," Ace added.

"I won't shed a single thought about you, Acey."

Eli slapped a hand over his heart, "Rude, Anne."

"tease her manors later," Maggie handed Anne her cane and pulled the Boleyn girl upstairs. "So," She crossed her arms when the two entered Anne's bedroom, "Where's your stash, Green?"

"My what?"

"Come on, Anne, I know you better than anyone. Where is it?"

Anne glanced around her room nervously, "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

Maggie reached for her friend and cupped her hand on the back of Anne's neck, squeezing.

"OW!" 

"Tell me where it is."

"I don't have one!" Anne protested, moving her head around to try and loosen the grip on the back of her neck, especially when the pressure got harder. "Fine! Fine!" Anne ducked out of Maggie's reach, "It-It's in my closet!" She yelped again when Maggie gently tugged on her ear. "This is unnecessary!"

"I'm trying to help you," Maggie looked slightly regretful, "And I know it's not in your closet. It would be somewhere you can reach it without your leg."

"How is this helpful?" Anne's voice jumped an octave.

"I'm not going to let you drink yourself out again."

"I won't! It's just to help me sleep."

"So you're not falling into old habits?"

"No!"

"See," Maggie released Anne's ear, "I don't believe you."

"You don't have to believe me! Just trust me."

"I know you like I know myself, Anne," Maggie crossed her arms, "You can't hide your habits. You will drink yourself dead if this continues."

"I will not!" Anne growled, "Besides, you haven't seen me since our transport landed. What gives you the right to say all of these things?"

"Give me the stash."

"Fine, it's under the bed. Get it yourself."

Maggie shook her head, "No, Anne, you know that won't work. Give it to me."

"Fine!" Anne, with help from her friend, got down on the ground and pulled out the bottles of scotch and vodka, "Here!"

Maggie took them with wide eyes, "How much do you drink?!"

"A lot."

"I'm throwing all this out," Maggie shifted them to one arm.

"What! NO!"

"Anne."

Anne slumped onto the bed, "Maggie, please..."

The other woman set the bottles onto the bedside table, "Tell me what's up."

"It's nothing."

"It's her, isn't it?"

"it's been almost a month and a half..." Anne's head dropped.

Maggie sat down on the bed and wrapped her arms around Anne, "She wouldn't want this for you. She hated that you drank."

"Then why did she introduce me to vodka."

"That was Anton, you know that."

"Lies," Anne's voice was muffled, "It was Irina."

"It wasn't," Maggie declared softly, "And you know that. You're only drinking your sorrows away while you could be doing better. You need to be a better role model for Kat, seeing as she's adorable and news both of her older cousins, not just Jane."

"Kat doesn't care."

"Of course she does, and so would've Irina."

Silence, then Anne whispered, "Would she though?"

"No," Maggie pushed Anne back, "You are not becoming a sad drunk. I'm not letting Anne Boleyn be this way on my watch."

"Irina wouldn't care," the younger soldier repeated, "If she was still... here... she would've left me by now."

"That's it," Maggie pulled out her phone, "I'm calling Alaric."

"No!" Anne jumped back, "Wait- What?- why?"

"He's much better suited for this."

"No, no! Please don't call him!"

Maggie thumb hovered above Alaric's name in her contacts, "He's got pictures on his phone of his old liver."

"I know. I've seen them."

"Maybe you need to see them again."

"Mags-"

"Anne," Maggie put her phone down on the bed, "If you're not going to get better for you, at least do it for Irina and do it for your family."

"I can't do anything better than what I'm doing now. I'm fine. I'm honestly fine!"

"Yeah, right."

"Irina is... g-gone. She's gone and she's never coming back. She's gone, okay? She's gone and I can't do anything, so it doesn't matter." The Lieutenant's voice lowered, "Can you please hug me? I need a hug."

Within seconds, Maggie had her arm around the smaller girl's shoulders, "You can't bring her back, that's true," Maggie whispered softly, "But you can honor her memory."

"H-How do I do that?" Anne sobbed, gripping her friend's arm.

"You stop drinking. You go to AA meetings, you open yourself back up to love, but most importantly, you don't separate yourself from your cousins. She would've wanted you to be happy, not miserable."

"H-how, how do you know?"

"Because she wouldn't let you die. That's how I know. She made sure that you would stay alive to make it home."

Anne's body shook as she cried, "But it, it's so hard to be happy."

"I know, Green, I know."

She hugged Maggie tightly, "And if she, if she wanted me to be happy... should I try?... for her?"

Maggie nodded, "For her, and for you."

"Thank you..."

The taller woman kissed Anne's head gently, "Anytime, and I mean that. Oh, and I'm still taking the bottles."

Anne giggled softly, "I hate you."

"You'll be thanking me soon enough."

"Why do you have to be right?"

"I'm a Major for a reason, Annie."

"Ha," Anne scoffed, "I find that funny."

"Hey," Maggie gently ran her thumb across Anne's cheeks to clear the tear tracks, "You're talking to a superior officer, watch your tone."

The Lieutenant saluted, then smiled tiredly, "Ma'am."

"Alright, kid, you should sleep. I hear you've got a birthday party tomorrow."

"Sure, yeah. Will the squad be there?"

Maggie shook her head, "No, but we'll be sure to meet up another time." Anne yawned and flopped down onto her side, making her friend laugh. "Sleep well, Little Green."

"Heyyy, Mags?" Anne caught the woman's wrist.

"Yeah?"

"Leg?"

"No way. I'm not touching that."

Anne rolled onto her back and pouted, "Why don't you love me?"

"I've saved your ass like seven times. I think I get a pass."

"I guess it can wait," Anne shrugged.

"Nope," Maggie raised her eyebrows, "Do not sleep in that."

Sleepily, the Boleyn girl started to undo the strapping, "Fine."

"Good."

Anne kicked the prosthetic off the bed with her other leg and pulled off the sleeve over her residual limb, sending it to the ground, too, "Night."

"Good night, Green. Have some kickass dreams," Maggie picked up the bottles of alcohol, "While I take out the trash."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments; I love hearing what you all have to think about my fics


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, Wolfenden56 saved my ass and helped me with the dialogue, so round of applause for them!
> 
> CW: panic attack

Kat's birthday. For Anne, it was all fun and games until some of her cousin's classmates decided it would be a good idea to start squeezing and popping balloons, which, lucky for Anne, sounded eerily similar to gunfire. The first time, she had been alone so no one saw her immediately drop to the ground and cover her head with her hands. By the third time, Anne scrambled into the back room of the coffee shop and hid. 

"What the- Oh my God! Anne, Anne, come on, breathe."

Anne gasped for air, flinching away from the hands that started to reach for her.

"No, Anne, come on, it's just me. It's Cathy, Cathy Parr? The writer."

Cathy. The name broke a crack in the mental fog around Anne's mind. Cathy was trustworthy, right?

"My- my leg," Anne grabbed at her prosthetic, "My leg."

"I, uhm, what can I do?" Cathy asked, her chest tightening. She'd never helped someone with a panic attack before.

"St-stab it," The soldier started hitting her fist against her leg.

"I'm not going to stab your foot."

"P-Please," Anne sobbed, "Stab, stab it."

"W-With what?" Cathy started looking around for something. 

Anne choked on a breath, "A-any, anything-"

"Uhm," Cathy pulled a pencil from her pocket and started stabbing at the soldier's prosthetic leg.

A few seconds later, "S-Stop-"

"You asked me-"

"I-I, just- just... stop."

"Okay, okay," Cathy tucked the pencil back into her coat pocket, "I'm stopping. Anne, just breathe, okay? Can you breathe for me?"

"I- I c-can't. I can't b-breathe."

"Can I touch you?" Cathy slowly and gently took Anne's hand after receiving a shaky nod, then slowly moving into the woman's field of vision. "Look at me and breathe. You can see me breathing, try and replicate that."

"I," Anne swallowed sharply, "I- No, No, I-"

Carefully, Cathy moved Anne's hand to her stomach so the soldier could feel her breathing, "Can I rub your back?"

"Y-Yes." She was breathing a little easier and leaned slightly on Cathy's arm when the writer started to trace slow circles on her back. "There, there were gun- gunshots."

"Where?"

"C-Café."

"Oh," Cathy kept her voice quiet, "Those weren't gunshots. They were balloons."

Anne blushed slightly, "They, they s-sound, sounded like, like gunshots."

The writer nodded slowly, "Yeah, I can understand that. Listen to me, Anne, can you do something for me?"

She nodded quickly, "Y-Yeah."

"Can you tell me five things you can feel?"

"Uhm," Anne's eyes closed slightly, "The, the floor... your hand," She let out a mix between a cry and a whimper, "A-A headache, your breathing, and- and- a ring."

"Good, good," Cathy continued to rub slow circles, "That's perfect. Can you tell me four things you can hear?"

"Your, your voice... L-Laughing... G-gunshots," She shuddered, "A-and Talking," Anne's grip on Cathy's hand tightened.

"Uhm," Cathy looked around, "Can I touch your head?"

The Lieutenant glanced up slightly, answering slowly, "Go-go ahead."

"Let me know if you ever want me to stop, and keep your hand somewhere you can feel my breath," Cathy instructed gently as she covered Anne's ears with her hands.

The tactic seemed to work for a little while, then Anne gripped Cathy's shirt tightly, "C-Cathy... M-my hearing, I-I can't, I can't hear."

Instantly, Cathy released some of the pressure against Anne's head, "Is that better?"

"Y-Yes."

"Okay, good, good. Just, uhm, just breathe, okay? Try to match my breathing."

Anne nodded, her hand still pressed against Cathy's chest.

"Breathe..."

A face different from Cathy's filled Anne's vision. It was pale, green-eyed, and blonde. And clearly Russian. Anne recognized it instantly. 

"R-Ri-Rina?"

"No," Cathy felt tinge of jealousy, "It's Cathy."

"W-Where's Irina," Anne cringed away slightly.

"Who?"

The Lieutenant started sobbing, "Where is she? What did you do to her?!"

"I didn't do anything?-"

Anne pushed against the body in front of her, sending Cathy stumbling back.

"Okay, okay," The writer got up on her haunches and held up her hands, "Anne, just breathe."

"No, no, where's Irina? Where is she- No, no-" She froze as more balloons popped, "No, no- she, she- Where is she?"Her sobbing became louder as the laughter did too. "My Irina...

Cathy had a sudden realization that she was in way too far over her head, "I, uh-" Then, she remembered. She'd come to write. She had noise-dampening headphones in her backpack. "Uhm, here," She pulled the set from her back and gently put them over Anne's head.

The Lieutenant drew her legs up to her chest and buried her face in her knees.

"I need to get Jane," Cathy slowly got to her feet. She heard a soft, "Don't go.." and bit her lip before making her decision. "I'm sorry," She replied, then ran from the counter and quickly found Jane talking to another adult.

"Cathy?" The woman looked surprised to see her.

"Anne is having a panic attack and I don't know what to do," Cathy explained quickly, "She keeps mentioning someone named Irina."

Jane excused herself from the conversation with the other parent, then turned to Cathy, "Where?"

Kat had heard bits and pieces, "Anna," She caught her girlfriend's arm, "I'll be right back.

Cathy pushed the door open and brought Jane to Anne, who was still curled up in a shaking, sobbing ball with her prosthetic on full display.

"S-She doesn't have a leg," Jane whispered.

Cathy blinked, "What? Oh, uh, yeah. Did she not tell you?"

Jane shook her head, "No, but never mind that." She knelt down in front of her cousin and gently tapped Anne's shoulder in a steady pattern. "Anne, Anne, it's just me. It's Jane. Come on, love, you're safe." The soldier let Jane wrap her in an embrace and hold her steady.

"Jane? Annie?" Kat poked her head into the room.

"Uhm... Kitty?" Jane glanced at Cathy, "Can you?-"

"What's wrong with Annie?"

Cathy barred the teenager from entering the room the rest of the way with her arm, "She's having a panic attack," She explained quietly, "From her PTSD."

From Jane's lap, Anne curled tighter in her cousin's arms and sobbed into Jane's shoulder, gasping loudly.

The eldest of the three cousins stroked Anne's hair, "Shh, love, breathe, you're okay, you're safe." She looked back up to Kat and Cathy, "Can you two step out?"

"Yep," The writer gently pushed the teenager from the room.

"But-"

"Come on, Anne will be okay."

"What's going on?" Kat protested, "How bad is her PTSD?"

"Uhm," Cathy glanced back at Jane, who was now gently rocking a sobbing Anne in her arms. "She was in active combat for 12 months, Kat," She sighed, "It's... it's pretty bad."

Tears welled in the teenager's eyes, "I-I- Why didn't I even- Is she going to be okay?"

"She's going to be fine," Cathy nodded, "Jane's with her and, now that we know, we can get her help. Do you want a hug?"

"Y-yes, please..."

"C'mere."

On the opposite side of the door, Jane was saying the same thing to Anne.

"Come here, love..."

Anne curled tightly into Jane, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

"Shhh... It's okay..."

"no, no, I killed her," Anne murmured, "I'm so sorry, Irina, I'm so sorry."

"You didn't kill her," promised Jane.

Anne choked on a sob, "Y-You sound like Aragon.."

"Aragon is a wise woman."

The soldier buried her face in Jane's neck, "I-I'm so sorry... I'm sorry..."

"No need to apologize, darling. I've got you, I always have."

"B-But, but I-I ru-ruined the, the party," Anne whimpered.

"I don't care," Jane shook her head, "You're struggle is a lot more important than a party."

Anne's bottom lip quivered and she let out a sob, prompting Jane to tighten her arms. "I don't know how you found me," Anne murmured, "And I don't care. I don't know what I'd do without you and Kat."

"Speaking of," Jane brushed the hair out of Anne's face, "Kat is really worried about you. Do you want to see her?"

The Lieutenant shook her head, "N-Not, not right now."

"Okay," Jane nodded, "That's okay. Do you want to go upstairs? Or do you want to stay here?"

"Upstairs?" Anne whispered.

"Okay, let's go upstairs," Jane gently helped the younger girl to her feet and half-dragged, half-carried her up the stairs to their loft.

"I'm tired..."

"Do you want to sleep?"

Anne shrugged, "Maybe..."

"Okay," Jane guided the two of them to Anne's bedroom and lay her cousin down, "You don't have to sleep, but why don't you relax?"

"Will do..."

"Maggie told me about your alcohol stash."

Anne rolled onto her side, and yawned, "Okay... Hey, uhm, can you take off my leg?" She awkwardly stuck her prosthetic towards Jane.

"Uhm," The eldest cousin nodded, "Sure...?"

The Lieutenant hummed contentedly and hugged her pillow.

Jane carefully pushed Anne's pantleg up and saw the straps and the socket. Under her breath, Jane whispered, "Now, how do I do this?-"


	9. Chapter 9

_"Shoot her._ _Being gay is sin._ _Kill her, or I kill both you."_

_"Annie, Annie, it's okay. It's okay."_

_"No," Anne shook her head, holding her fingers as far away from the trigger as she could, "No, I'm not going to kill you."_

_"I have nobody," Irina gently maneuvered the gun in Anne's palm, "You have your cousins. Shoot me."  
_

_"No, Rina, you don't deserve this."_

_The Russian nodded slowly and smiled, "I know. It's okay." She wiped the tears from Anne's cheeks, "It's okay."_

_"No," Anne shook her head, "No, Rina, don't do this," She felt her girlfriend's hands slowly push her own finger onto the trigger._

_"I love you, Green," Irina whispered, "Thank you for setting me free."_

_She forced Anne's finger down on the trigger._

_A gunshot._

_A scream._

Anne darted up in bed, choking on a scream. The loft was quiet, which made sense for four o'clock in the morning.

"Welp," She sighed, rubbing sweat from her face with the sleeve of her hoodie, I'm not sleeping again." Anne pushed back her blankets and hopped out of her bedroom, not bothering to put on her prosthetic and instead relying heavily on her cane to keep her upright as she went.

Turns out, the living room was much further from her bedroom than Anne initially thought. The trek ended in the soldier face-planting onto the couch and sloppily pulling a blanket over her shoulders.

"Annie?"

Anne lifted her head out of the cushions, "Kat?"

"Yeah, are you okay?"

"Totally fine," The older girl pushed herself onto her back, "You?"

Kat sighed, "I'm worried."

"About?"

"I've got this friend," The teenager sat down on the couch beside her cousin, "And she went through some pretty traumatic experiences and she won't talk to anyone and we just found out she has a prosthetic limb after two weeks."

Anne smiled, "Maybe this _friend_ is scared, too, and thinks that by not telling you, she's protecting you."

"But we've told her over and over that she doesn't have to protect us and that she can talk to us."

"Maybe she doesn't feel like she can."

"But-"

"Something you need to understand, Kat," Anne sighed and pushed herself into a sitting position, "Is that trauma is hard and it can be hard to trust people, especially if you've been betrayed and stabbed in the back before."

"It's you, Anne!" Kat threw up her hands, "You're the friend I'm worried about!"

The Boleyn girl laughed softly, "I know, Kat."

"Y-you do?"

"Yeah."

"Then why did you say all of that stuff-" The teenager trailed off, "Oh... That's your experience?"

Anne nodded, "Yep."

"You think you're protecting Jane and me?"

"Yes, no," the soldier shrugged, "I don't know. It's complicated."

"You don't have to-"

"I do," Anne interrupted her cousin, "Not only am I your older cousin, but I was also fighting for a year to protect you. I will always protect you, Kat."

"But you're getting hurt in the process."

"Who's getting hurt?"

Both cousins looked up to see Jane entering the living room, also in her pajamas.

"Kat thinks that because I haven't opened up to you guys as much as you like, I'm hurting myself."

Jane shrugged, "Is she right?"

"I'm not sure I like this game," Anne rolled her eyes, rubbing her residual limb through her pant leg.

"That means it's a game worth playing," The oldest of the three cousins replied.

Kat got up from the couch, "Wanna watch a movie?"

"Yes," Anne answered quickly, "Please."

The teenager tossed the remote over, then went to start some popcorn while Anne and Jane searched for a movie.

"What do you want to watch?" The oldest of the three asked.

Anne shrugged and curled up against the arm of the couch, "Coco," she whispered softly, "It's quiet and familiar."

"Coco, it is," Jane searched through the lists of movies they had on the TV.

"Popcorn, m'ladies," Kat snuggled down between her cousins.

Anne reached over and took a handful, "Don't mind if I do."

Jane pulled a blanket over the three of them and hugged her cousins close as the first lines of Coco were spoken.

"I needed this," Anne whispered softly, "Thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short fluff chapter before the next chapter, which has some more angst.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all know the deal: Wolfenden56 helped me write the dialogue for this chapter.
> 
> CW: Thomas Boleyn's A+ (not) parenting, homophobia - in particular the d-slur.

"Anne! Hey, uhm, wait up!"

Anne turned around and bit her tongue to stop herself from groaning when she saw Cathy running toward her. She had been kicked out of a bar just minutes before when the bartender saw the AA chip on her keychain from the phone-in-meetings she'd attended while in the field. "H-hey, Cathy."

"You okay?"

"Eh," Anne shrugged, "Could be worse, I guess."

"I," Cathy's eyebrows drew together in concern, "Okay, uhm, oh, hey I just wanted to say thank you for letting me ask you for all those questions. That couldn't have been easy."

"Yeah, I guess so... It doesn't matter anyway, I, uhm, it's fine."

"I, uh," the writer rubbed her neck, "I don't have, erm, anywhere to be, uhm," She shifted awkwardly, "Do you maybe wanna walk? With... me...?"

Anne blinked, shocked by the offer, "Oh, uhm... sure? I mean, it's not too bad tonight... to walk, you know... with someone."

Cathy grinned widely, "Really? Okay! Great! Er- Awesome!" She blushed and looked to the ground, "I mean, erm, great," She repeated with less enthusiasm.

"It's fine," Anne laughed softly, "It's very rare for me to walk with someone. Take it in."

"Sorry, I'm just," Cathy blushed, "Erm, you know, uh..."

"You what?" the soldier smirked.

The writer's cheeks deepened their red, "Uhm, excitable?"

"You cold?" Anne asked, smiling, "Your face is red."

Cathy turned away from her and tried to hide in her coat, "I- uhm- no, erm, sorry-"

"Alright, anyway, uhm, sorry about the whole, you know, bullet thing. Balloons apparently scare me," She paused, "Like a lot."

"It's okay. PTSD is complicated."

"Yeah, I guess so..." Anne looked up and grinned slightly when she saw that Cathy had almost returned to their normal color, "You sure you aren't cold?"

Almost immediately, the writer blushed, "What? No- I- I'm fine. Uhm, yeah-"

"Here," Anne shrugged off her coat and handed it over, "Take mine. I don't get cold easily. I was in Russia for too long."

Cathy hesitantly took the jacket and pulled it on over her own, "Uhm... thanks," She zipped up the front and whispered, "Mmmm, smells like you..." under her breath.

It was Anne's turn to feel herself get warm, "Isn't that the point, Parr? That's a little too stupid for you."

"I- uhm, what?" The writer had gone red again and was very clearly confused. 

"While we're here," Anne continued, "Might as well tell me what I smell like."

"I- uhm, er- you, uhm,- smell uhm," Cathy kept her eyes anywhere but Anne, "Good? I, er, I don't, uhm, I don't know."

"It's okay," The soldier bit her lip to keep herself from laughing, "And anyway, I can smell your perfume from a mile away. That's probably why."

"Oh my God! I didn't realize it was so strong! I- dammit- I'm so sorry!"

"It smells nice," Anne smirked, "No need to worry." She smiled at Cathy's blush but didn't get the chance to tease her about it because her phone started vibrating. "I better be off. It was nice seeing you, Cathy. Keep the perfume."

"Wait!" Cathy grabbed the soldier's shoulder, "Uhm, would you, er, ever, uhm, I don't know, uhm, want to, erm, meet up again? Just the, uhm, two of us?"

Anne gently removed the hand, "Yeah, I'd like that, so sure. I should get back to the coffee shop since Jane keeps blowing up my phone. Bye."

"Yep!" Cathy waved, "Uhm, bye! I'll call you!" She froze, "Dammit- I don't have your number."

Anne was too far down the path to hear Cathy and had pulled out her phone when a call came through. She was about to accept when a voice broke her thoughts.

"Anne."

The Lieutenant spun around, stumbling on her prosthetic, just barely keeping herself up with her cane, "Dad?- I mean, uh, sir- what are you doing here? What the hell is wrong with you!"

Thomas Boleyn took a step closer, "I heard you're a war hero. My baby girl, a soldier."

"N-No," Anne flinched away from her father, "I'm not, I'm not- And, how did you find me? I've been hiding from you for 17 years!"

"I have my ways, Annie," The nickname sounded sick in his voice, "The Army dweeb I talked to on the phone was very helpful."

The Boleyn woman gripped her cane tightly, "You have no right t-to call me that. And you have no right to speak with my, you _monster._ "

"Hey!" Both Boleyns turned when Cathy jogged up to them. "Anne, wait-" The writer finally saw Thomas standing across from his daughter, "Oh, uhm, am I interrupting something?"

Thomas glared at the two women, "Who's this?"

"Cathy, do you mind?" Anne was eager to get her away.

"Uhm, what?" The writer hooked a thumb over her shoulder, "Should I go? I can come back later if-"

"No," Thomas interrupted, "Stay."

"Cathy, go now."

The two Boleyns glared at each other, then Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"What do you have against her staying, Anne?"

The soldier rolled her eyes, "Oh, forgive me if I don't want my girlfriend around my homophobic father!"

"I- uhm- what?" Cathy stumbled when Anne grabbed her arm and tugged her closer, "I mean, uh, y-yeah?"

"No, back off, Dad. Get out of here and crawl back to the depths of Hell, where you belong."

"I thought you might have grown out of that," Thomas snarled.

Cathy started shaking, half with excitement that Anne liked girls, but also due to the raging anger she felt towards the man standing across from her.

"What are you going to do about it, _Dad_?" Anne shot back, equally as venomous, "Seeing as Mom didn't come with you, or did she? You won't be able to manipulate me into this one with all of her _motherly love_."

Thomas's shoulders tightened, "Your mother died. Three years ago, and you didn't even come to the funeral."

The Lieutenant gripped Cathy's arm tighter, "And how would I have known that? I haven't talked to you in nearly twenty years!"

"That's right," the Boleyn man nodded, "You were off being a cursed little brat with your disappointments-for-cousins. I should have kicked you out of the house the minute you were born! You're nothing like your siblings. You're not normal, you're not perfect, and you," he took a deep breath, "You are not even _close_ to being my daughter."

Cathy could hear Anne's teeth grinding, and when the girl spoke, her voice shook.

"W-Well, you're wrong! I never wanted to be your daughter!"

By this point, Cathy had both hands on Anne's arm and, in a joint effort with the cane, was keeping her upright.

Thomas took two steps forward, "Have fun in Hell, _dyke_."

Before she knew what she was doing, Cathy had lunged forward and shoved Anne's father. "Back off!" she yelled, "Y-You don't know anything! You asshole!"

"Do not talk to me that way!" Thomas went red with fury, "Do you know who I am!?"

"I know you're calling my girlfriend homophobic slurs!" The writer spat, her stomach doing a somersault at _'girlfriend'._

"At least I'm not going to Hell!"

"Heaven is wherever you aren't!" Cathy retorted.

The three were silent for a few moments, then Thomas gave a loud huff and stalked away, gravel crunching beneath his feet. As soon as he was out of earshot, Cathy deflated and turned back to Anne, who was now in tears.

"Thank you..."

Cathy nodded, "Yes, of course. Can I hug you?"

"Yes..."

Immediately, Cathy had her arms around the woman and held her close. Anne let go of her cane and leaned her weight against the writer, whose grip immediately tightened.

"So that was your dad, huh?"

Anne nodded, "He's a gem, isn't he?"

Cathy laughed slightly, "He's definitely something." She took a breath, "You said something about not talking to him in almost twenty years? Anne, you're only 29."

"It was 17 years," the Lieutenant corrected, "I came out as bi when I was 12. My mom wasn't happy, but she wasn't exactly against it. My dad, however, _flipped out_ and kicked me out. I was in an orphanage for a year and a half before Jane managed to track me down and took me in. A few years later, she sued my uncle for custody of Kat and won."

"Jane's your legal guardian?"

"Yep."

"But you act like siblings?"

Anne smiled and nodded slightly, "Jane never tried to insert herself into the position of my mother. And, because of that, our relationship was more that of sisters."

"Sounds like a good person to have in your life. Much better than your father."

The Lieutenant scoffed, "Yeah, uhm, she can be stern sometimes, but I know she's safe. She took me to my first Pride Parade, you know. I was fourteen and I woke up one morning and Jane had bought me a pride flag. She tied it around my shoulders and said, 'Get comfortable shoes, Anne. We're going to pride', and she took us every year." She laughed lightly, "Missing it was actually one of the worst things about deployment."

"That sounds amazing," Cathy rubbed Anne's back, "Do you want to go to Jane?"

"Not yet. I don't want her to see me like this."

"But, she loves you."

"I know, but there are somethings that I was to keep separate." Anne pulled away slightly, "It's the same thing with my uniform. I love Jane and Kat, but I wouldn't want them to see me in full uniform. I'm fine with the formal stuff and the combat uniform, but not the gear."

"Which parts of the gear?"

Anne shrugged, "Just like the, uhm, how would I describe this in a way you would understand... uhm, the equipment? Like the vest and the layers of pockets and pouches and whatnot."

"I'm sure you look amazing in it."

"Catherine Parr, are you flirting with me?"

Cathy blushed and shrugged, "Maybe I am."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I am not British, my knowledge of the British Army comes from their website: https://www.army.mod.uk/


	11. Chapter 11

Two days. It had been two days since Cathy had last spoken to Anne. She'd stopped by Jane's coffee shop in hopes of catching the soldier in a moment of free time so they could talk about what had happened at the park, but every time Anne saw her, she would ignore and avoid her.

"Anne?" Cathy approached the armchair where the Boleyn girl was curled with a book in her lap.

No response.

"Anne, come on, talk to me."

Anne shuffled off the chair and limped to the door to the stairwell.

"Uhm, Kat?" The writer found the teenager behind the counter.

"Hey, Cathy! How are you?"

"I'm fine, uhm, can I ask you something?"

Kat wiped her hands on a dishtowel, "Sure."

"Has Anne been acting," Cathy paused, "I don't know... strange... recently?"

"A little," she shrugged, "She's been spending a lot more time on phone calls with her Army friends and is a lot faster to volunteer for manual labor."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, uhm, bringing boxes and stuff into the back when we get deliveries."

"When's the next delivery?"

Kat glanced at the clock on the wall, "Uhm, two minutes ago?"

"Can I go help her?" Cathy asked.

"I mean, sure."

Anne was in the back of the store, right where Kat had said she would be. There was a stack of boxes in the alley and Anne was slowly moving them inside.

"Hey," Cathy knocked on the side of the wall, "Uhm, need any help?"

"No," Anne replied.

"Come on, Anne. Please."

"No. I don't need help." She lifted up a box and settled it on her shoulder, gripping her cane and limping to the open door.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Anne tried to set down the box and stumbled to catch it when her balance was thrown off. Cathy jumped forward and caught both the coffee and the soldier as they fell.

"Let go of me!" Anne shook off her arm and steadied herself on her cane.

"Sorry, I was just trying to help," Cathy set the box down on the already-growing stack inside the door.

"Just stop," Anne limped back to the pile in the street.

"Stop what?" The writer followed Anne and picked up her own box, "I can't stop anything if I don't know what I'm doing!"

"Stop trying to insert yourself into my life," Anne stopped walking, crate on her shoulder.

"How am I doing that?"

"You're everywhere! I can't get space!"

"It's been two days!"

Anne huffed and limped to the door, dropping the box down.

"Anne, come on. This is childish," Cathy rolled her eyes.

No response.

"We were flirting with each other. We need to talk."

She stayed silent.

"Did," Cathy sighed, "Did I do something to upset you? Is that why you won't talk to me?"

Anne stopped walking and dropped the case on her shoulder to the floor before turning around, "No, Cathy. You didn't do anything wrong. It's not you-"

"It's me, right?" The writer finished, "You're seriously going to use the "it's not you, it's me" speech? Really, Anne?"

"Look!" The Lieutenant sighed, "What do you want from me? What do you want me to say?"

"Why have you been avoiding me?"

"I haven't been!"

"Jesus Christ- Yes you have! For two days you haven't said a word to me, and it's not like we haven't seen each other, either! I've been here for most of that time and I've tried to talk to you over and over, but you don't ever respond!"

Anne bit her lip and glanced at the ground.

"So what do you have to say for yourself, Lieutenant Boleyn? Huh? Am I just "another girl"? Just someone you flirt with and then ghost?"

"No!" Anne raised her hand, "No, no! Cathy, no, you're not "just another girl", you're not "just" anything."

"Then tell me what I did wrong."

"Nothing."

"I know that's not true."

The soldier took a deep, slow breath, "You, you scare me. That's why."

Cathy was taken aback, "I- _I_ scare _you?"_

"Yeah. Big time."

"H-How? You, you went to war, you lost your leg, you, you're _you_."

Anne smiled slightly, "Yeah, that's why I'm so scared. I'm me and you're you. Look, Cathy, I have some... difficulties with relationships and dating and all that... stuff. My, uhm," She squeezed her eyes shut and refused to look at Cathy, "My last girlfriend was, uhm, she was the, uh, the victim of a homophobic," She cleared her throat, "A homophobic attack that, uhm, that took, took her life. Jane, uhm, can tell you more, I guess, but uhm," Anne swiped at a tear on her cheek and hoped Cathy hadn't noticed. "It messed with my head, uhm, a little. I-I'm just not, uhm, not sure I'm ready for a serious relationship or anything like that quite yet."

Cathy nodded slowly, "'It's not you, it's me'," She repeated, making Anne blush.

"Uhm, yeah..."

"That's okay," The writer said.

Anne's head snapped up, "What?"

"It's okay that you're not ready," Cathy repeated, "And I am so sorry about your last girlfriend. I cannot imagine what you had to go through. I, truly, no one deserves that. But, Anne, I think I like you and I'm willing to wait or take things slow, or just be your friend, or do whatever you need me to do."

"Y-You really mean that?"

"Yes."

The soldier blushed, "I'm glad."

"And why's that?"

"Because I think I like you, too."


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit to Wolfenden56 for the Jane Eyre idea and helping me write some of it (:

"JANE!"

"What?"

"HELP!" Anne spun to face her cousin when the door opened. "Do I look okay?"

Jane smiled as she watched the soldier flatten out her knee-length green dress.

"You look fantastic, Anne," Jane smiled, "I do notice how you're not covering your prosthetic."

Anne's eyes widened when she looked down, "Is that okay? Does it look bad? Dammit- it looks bad, doesn't it? I knew I should've gotten a longer dress!"

"No, no," Jane rubbed her cousin's arms, "It's fine, it looks beautiful. You're beautiful."

"Do, do you think Cathy will, uhm, like it?"

"Of course. She's going to love it."

Anne blushed slightly, then rubbed the back of her neck, "Really?"

"She'd be stupid not to."

"Thanks," The Lieutenant pointed to where she'd left her cane by the side of her bed. "Can you get that for me?"

"Sure, love."

The physical therapist Anne had been working with had said that she should start walking short distances without the extra help. So, now she would limp around her room sometimes or go from the couch to the kitchen. But, for long times on her feet, she still leaned on the cane.

"When is she coming?"

Anne glanced at her watch, "Uhm, two minutes?"

"Well come on, then!" Jane held the door, "Go downstairs and get ready to greet her!"

Anne limped out of the bedroom and stumbled her way into the coffee shop. She hopped in a nervous circle while waiting for Cathy to knock on the door.

"You nervous?" Kat grinned, leaning against Anna.

Anne stopped pacing, "Yes."

"A straight answer?" Anna grinned, "Did not expect that."

Kat elbowed her girlfriend playfully, "What part of that answer was straight?"

"Haha," Anne was tempted to throw her cane at her cousin, and she was about to but someone knocked on the coffee shop door. "Jane!" she hissed, "Please get the door!"

"No."

"Please!"

"No, you get it."

"Fine!" Anne went to the door and slowly pulled it open.

Cathy stood on the front step of the coffee shop, tugging on her blue dress. Her head snapped up when the door moved.

"Anne!-" She blushed, "Oh, uhm... You look... you look amazing."

Anne's cheeks reddened also, "Oh, uhm, thank you. You look incredible, too.

"I- erm,- thank you."

"You, uh, you don't think it's too much? Or that I should cover my leg?"

Cathy's eyes darted to Anne's legs, a smile forming on her lips when she realized that Anne's prosthetic was on full display.

"No," She said softly, "No, it's beautiful. You're beautiful."

"And the cane doesn't-"

"Anne," Cathy gently set her hand on top of Anne's, "You look stunning. Cane and plastic leg in all."

The soldier blushed and looked to the ground, "It has metal, too," she whispered, making Cathy laugh.

"Right, my mistake. Cane and plastic and metal lag in all."

“Girls,” Jane came up behind her cousin, “Be back by two.”

“What?!” Kat and Anne exclaimed together.

“I’m a grown woman!” Anne continued, “I don’t need a curfew!”

Kat, however, was mad for a different reason. “Two?” She threw up her hands, “How come she gets to stay out till two in the morning but I have to be back by midnight.”

Jane sighed and cast a glance at the youngest of the three cousins, “Should I make your curfew 11?”

“No...” Kat shook her head.

"So three?" Anne limped out the door.

"No!" Jane jumped forward, "Two! Be home by two!"

Anne pulled the door shut and grabbed Cathy's hand, pulling her down the street.

"Do you seriously want to stay out until three in the morning?" The writer asked.

Anne shook her head quickly, "Yes, but we should get me home by two. Otherwise, Jane will literally rip my head off and I'm quite fine only missing a leg."

Cathy laughed, "Right, uhm, yeah, that makes sense. So, uhm, where do you want to go?"

"I've got a few ideas," Anne once again took Cathy's hand and lead her down the street.

"A bar?" The writer stopped walking when she saw the building a few blocks away from the coffee shop, "Anne, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Trust me."

"Fine, but if I see any alcohol, we're leaving."

"Deal."

Reluctantly, Cathy let Anne bring her inside. She expected the building to reek of beer and other intoxicating beverages, but instead, the establishment smelled like a diner.

"What is this place?" She asked, looking around.

The walls were decorated were framed photographs, drawings, and paintings. Woven in between the frames were rainbow twinkle lights and LED strips were attached to the trim. There was a buzz of conversation that was almost drowned out by the loud jazz blasting from speakers.

"A bar," Anne shrugged, "But not a bar. They don't serve alcohol here, but they do their best to keep the feel of the place as similar to that of a bar as possible. It's very popular among people trying to get or stay sober."

"Do you come here a lot?"

Before Anne could answer, the boy behind the bar waved at the two of them.

"Anne!" He called, "Good to see you again!"

"I guess that answers that," Cathy blushed.

"Come on," Anne pulled her date to the bar, "Hey, Barnard," she high-fived him, "This is Cathy. We're on a date."

Barnard raised his eyebrows, "Ooooo, a date. Well, then, what can I get you two?"

"Surprise us."

Barnard disappeared into the kitchen and Anne and Cathy claimed a table against the wall where they could watch everyone in the bar.

"This place is great," Cathy's brown eyes swept the floor, lingering on the karaoke stage, "How'd you find it?"

Anne bit her lip and pulled her dress against her legs, "Oh, uhm, I heard some people talking about it at an AA meeting - Jane's started making me go to them - and decided to check it out."

"AA?" The writer's eyebrow raised, "You, uhm, you're an-"

"Alcoholic, uhm, yeah. I've had some... issues with drinking before. Mostly during my deployments. But," the soldier shook her head, "Uhm, you know a lot about me. Tell me about you."

"Psshhh," Cathy shrugged, "I'm not that interesting. I mean, I've got two siblings: William, my brother, and a sister whose name also happens to be Anne."

"It's a common name. Are you close to either of them?"

"Not particularly. My parents put a lot of pressure on us to be the best and only were the type to connect societal success to money and status, rather than happiness and prosperity. William is a lawyer and Anne married rich."

The Boleyn girl sat back in her chair, "And you became a writer?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. When I was little I would tell myself stories to help myself fall asleep or narrate my actions to make boring activities seem more fun. It just became part of me and I decided I didn't want to stop. So, I studied Creative Writing and Literature, which my parents weren't too thrilled about, but they paid for tuition."

"And your book? The newest one you're writing, is this going to be _the one?"_

Cathy shrugged, "I hope so. It would be nice to rub it in their faces that you can become famous and make money by telling stories."

"You know," Anne drummed the handle of her cane with her fingertips, "While in combat, we told a lot of stories and spent a lot of time reading, too. We were camped with some Russian troops and we would exchange books every now and then."

"So you can read Russian?" Cathy's eyes widened, "Anne, that's really cool!"

The soldier blushed and looked down, "I haven't in a while, but I bet some of it would come back to me. Spoken stuff was easier for us, though, so we would read to each other a lot, and one member of our team, Lia, was incredible at telling stories. Sadly, she, uhm, died... before she could write a novel, but I know that she had written some and kept a diary. My friend Blake, who had been discharged seven months into the deployment, has been working on getting her writing to a publisher."

"That's impressive. Though, I don't think I've heard you mention Lia and Blake before?"

Anne shook herself, "Let's not get into that tonight, yeah? It's kind of sad, so let's keep this on happier topics."

"Right," Cathy nodded quickly, "Yes, uh, yes, of course. Uhm, let's see, uh, what do you like to do in your spare time?"

"My spare time?" Anne hummed, "Well, I actually really enjoy art."

"Really?"

"Yeah, uh, drawing, in particular."

"She's quite good at it, too," Barnard set a basket of garlic bread down on the table, "Here you go, ladies. Anything I get can you to drink?"

"A piña colada, please," Anne ruffled the boy's hair.

"Uhm, just a coffee for me," Cathy requested.

"I'll be right back," Barnard ducked under Anne's arm and sprinted back to the kitchen.

Anne took a breath and looked back at her date, "So, uhm, Cathy. What is your favorite book?"

"Oh, uhm, promise not to laugh?"

"Sure."

Cathy blushed and tugged on the sleeve of her cardigan, "Uhm.. Jane Eyre."

"The romance?"

"Yes..."

"You're a hopeless romantic, aren't you?"

"I-"

"No, sorry, uhm, Cathy, what do you like about Jane Eyre?"

Cathy shrugged, "I mean, I related to her a lot, especially when I was younger. We both used reading and writing to escape." She blushed and trailed off, "And I wanted a Mr. Rochester."

Anne's eyes widened and a grin broke out on her face, "You wanted a guy who dressed in drag to trick his party guests?"

"That was my favorite part..."

"Well, I mean," Anne shrugged, "You got a woman, but Mr. Rochester? Really? The dude was like twice her age and had locked his mentally ill ex-wife in a bedroom. Then, his house burnt down and he moved in with his footman in the middle of nowhere, all while Jane was getting courted by like her second cousin."

The redness of Cathy's cheeks deepened again, "Yeah..." Then her eyes flashed, "Wait a minute. Mr. Rochester's first wife wasn't revealed until at least halfway into the book, and Mr. Rochester moving in with his footman wasn't talked about until the last few chapters. But Jane getting courted by that pastor happened in the middle." She sat back in her chair, "Anne Boleyn, do you like romance novels?"

It was Anne's turn to flush red, "No- uhm, I mean, er, a friend, er, of mine loved the book. I mean, uhm-" She kept her gaze on her prosthetic as she traced the metal and plastic with her fingers, "Erm, please don't tell Jane. She's been trying to get me to read it for years, but it wasn't until deployment that I finally did."

"No way," Cathy grinned, "You're not only a romance nerd, but you're a _secret romance nerd_. Oh, my God, this is perhaps the single greatest day of my life."

Anne groaned, folding her arms on the table and resting her head on them, "Make it stop... make it stop-"

"Nope," The writer shook her head, "Never. I was going to ask what your favorite book is, but I think I know."

"It's not Jane Eyre."

"Sure.

"It's not."

"Right."

"It's War and Peace."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah....?"

"You sure?"

"No...."

"What is it then? Jane Eyre?"

"Fine, yes," Anne rubbed her forehead, "It's one of them. It's very calm and relaxed, which I needed then. I read it during my deployment. Twice actually. Once in English and once, a lot slower, in Russian. I asked a friend to translate it for me so I could practice."

"That sounds like a really awesome experience," Cathy smiled.

"It was."

"Speaking of," The writer reached into her purse and pulled out a book, "Why don't we read?"

"I-" Anne read the title, "You didn't-"

"I did."

"You have a pocket-sized copy of Jane Eyre?"

"I do."

"Why?"

"Because."

"You're a dork," Anne dropped her head onto the table.

"I am."

The soldier sighed, then reached into her own purse and slowly drew out her own pocket-sized copy of the novel.

Cathy's eyes widened, "No way-"

"You tell no one, Catherine Parr," Anne glared, "No one."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because you're so cliché?"

"Am not."

"You are so cliché, Anne Boleyn."

"Says the girl who literally tried writing her main character with a common trope."

"That was a personal attack, and at least I made the trope gay. But, I promise, yes, I will not tell anyone... but can I please add this to my book?"

Anne rolled her eyes, "Ugh, _fine_. Just for you, though."

Cathy smiled widely, making Anne think that she looked like a kid in a candy shop. "YES! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She grabbed a pen from her purse and scribbled the note on her hand.

Anne leaned forward to see her write, _Annie_ rather than _Anne_. "You call me Annie?"

Cathy blushed, "Oh, uhm, is that okay?"

"Yeah," Anne nodded, "I've just never heard anyone call me that other than... Irin- Jane. Jane. She usually calls me that because Kit wanted our nicknames to be similar when she was very young. So, Jane started calling her Kitty and me Annie, and the nicknames just kind of... stuck."

"So it's a family nickname? I don't want to overstep-"

"No- No! You uhm- you didn't. I, er, you can call me Annie. I'm perfectly fine with it."

Cathy grinned, "Yeah? Great! Awesome!"

Anne cracked a smile as well, "Let's get reading, you dork."

"Shall we race?" The writer proposed, "Start from the beginning, first one to chapter 4 buys dinner?"

"Oh, you're so on!"

"On your marks, get set, go!"

Barnard brought their drinks, but neither girl moved. Anne simply said a soft, "Thank you" before her attention returned to the pages. Twenty minutes later, Cathy slammed her book shut.

"Ha! I'm done!"

"Dammit!" Anne reluctantly closed her book.

The writer smirked, "Guess you're paying."

"Fine. But I'll be broke after this."

"Well, when my book does well, you'll get a cut."

Anne raised an eyebrow, "Big dreams, darling."

"Perhaps so," Cathy shrugged, "Speaking of dreams, what are your 'big dreams'?"

"Seriously? You want me to say my big dreams?"

"If you want."

"Hmm," The Lieutenant hummed, then her face broke into a dorky grin, "I don't know. Uhm... maybe drawing? Anything creative. I used to spend my free time alone sketching, or uhm," She blushed, "Music, sometimes? I can play a little bit of guitar because of the Americans we were camped with."

Cathy smiled, "That sounds awesome, Anne. You'd be good at that."

Anne shrugged, "I don't know. Barnard and my cousins all say that my work is good, but..." She sighed, "I don't know. My parents drilled it into my siblings and me that a career in the arts wasn't a real career, I guess it's stuck."

"And when have you been one to do what your parents wanted?"

Anne smiled softly, "You know what, Cathy, you are very right." She picked up her drink and held it out, "Cheers."


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, Wolfenden56 saved my ass. Thank you for your help <3

"What time is it?" Cathy stuck her hands in her pockets and brushed her shoulder against Anne's gently.

The Boleyn girl pulled out her phone, "Almost midnight."

"So we've got some time."

"Yeah." Anne's cheeks reddened, "Hey, uhm, thanks for being so cool about taking things slowly. I really appreciate it."

Cathy nodded quickly, blushing slightly "Oh, yeah, I mean, definitely, of course. My pleasure."

"Thanks," Her gratitude was cut short by a shiver.

"Hey, oh, uhm, you cold?"

"No-"

Cathy laughed and shrugged off her coat, "Here"

"I'm fine-" The Lieutenant tried to decline.

"Just take the jacket, Annie," The writer laughed, holding it out again, "I saw you shiver."

"I- fine..."

Once Cathy was content that Anne was warm enough, she looked around the street the two of them were walking down, "Do you want to do anything in particular or do you just want to walk around?"

"Let's walk. Does that sound good?"

"Sounds perfect."

They walked in a comfortable silence down the blocks until they entered a park and Cathy steered them over to a bench.

"Here, wanna sit down?"

"Sure," Anne shrugged.

Silence fell over the two women once again. At first, it was relaxed and neither were bothered. Then, Cathy started shifting awkwardly, eventually breaking the quiet.

"So...?"

Anne smiled and laughed softly to herself, "Yes?"

"How are you?" The writer's eyes immediately went wide, "Shit, no, uhm, that's not a good question- uhm... let's ask, uhm, where's your favorite place in the world?"

"Hmm... Paris or Jane's cafe," Anne tipped her head, "What about you?"

"Well, uhm, I don't know. Maybe England, I guess?" She rubbed the back of her neck anxiously, "Oh, wait, no- uhm, we're talking cities. Uh- London? Maybe? Though, yeah, Paris is beautiful."

"You've been?"

"Uhm.... no?" Cathy sat up quickly, "But I've seen pictures! And it looks gorgeous!"

"Cath, are you okay?"

"Me?" Her voice jumped an octave, "Psssh- Yes! Definitely! 100%! I'm fine! Perfectly fi-"

Anne stopped her mid-ramble with a gentle kiss.

"Woah..." Cathy's eyes were wide when the two women pulled apart, "Didn't you want to take things slow?"

"I know... but- Dammit-" Anne dropped her head into her hands, "I-I'm sorry, Cathy."

"No, no!" The writer jumped in quickly, grateful Anne couldn't see how red she was, "It's okay, it's okay, I'm not mad. I'm just... surprised."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, no it isn't," She gently pulled Anne's hands away from her neck and held them in her own.

"Oh, God-" Anne shook her head, leaning against Cathy, "Am I rushing this? I'm rushing this, aren't I?"

"You're not, you're just... overwhelmed, maybe?" An idea popped into her head, making the writer smirk, "I mean, I am a lot to take in."

The soldier's head snapped up, "Did you just?-"

"You're a bad influence."

"How do you know I'm a bad influence and not a gay influence?" Anne raised an eyebrow, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.

Cathy groaned and rolled her eyes, "You suck."

"And yet you kissed back."

"Shut up."

"Make me," Anne challenged.

"Alright," It was Cathy's turn to initiate a kiss as she gently grabbed Anne's chin and brought their lips together, "Did that shut you up?"

"I-" Anne blinked a few times before nodding, "Um- yes. Yes it did."

"Come on. I want to show you something," Cathy got to her feet, gently pulling Anne with her.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

"Cathy-"

"Trust me!" The writer started running down the path with Anne chasing after her.

"Alright," Anne giggled, "Alright! Slow down!"

"Oh, come on, you little gremlin, you can keep up!" Cathy called over her shoulder

"I sure can!"

"Come on!"

Anne's pace became more staggered and she slowed down, "I'm coming! I only have one leg remember?"

Cathy immediately stopped running and waited for Anne to catch up, "Sorry."

"It's okay," Anne teased, smiling, "I can still keep up, _darling."_

The writer's cheeks turned crimson, "O-okay, here we are"

"I see swings. Dibs on the least broken one!"

"Jesus Christ- you're a child!"

Anne laughed and walked towards the swing set beside the playground, tossing her cane aside a few feet from the swings, "Tell me something I don't know."

"Anne," Cathy immediately lunged forward to be ready to catch Anne if she fell, only to gape when she realized that she was more or less still steady, "You're walking without your cane!"

"What? Oh, yeah," Anne felt her cheeks warm slightly, "My physical therapist has been encouraging me to start going short distances by myself."

Cathy grinned widely, "That's amazing!"

"Yeah! But still, I do act like a child sometimes so I call dibs on the less broken one." The soldier turned to face Cathy, only to be met with the most adorable pout she'd seen since Kat was at the age where she could get away with anything. "Ugh," Anne groaned, "Okay, fine."

The pout was immediately replaced with a large grin, "I knew you'd give in!"

Anne laughed as Cathy twirled her, but she went quiet as soon as the two claimed their swings.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, uhm, it's just..." Anne shook her head slightly, "Sorry, this is just really strange."

Cathy's eyes widened, "Did I make it strange- shit! I'm so sorry!"

Anne spun on the swing to face the other woman, "No, no! It's not you. It just feels weird to feel... free, I guess? Happy?"

"I make you happy?"

"You make me very happy," Anne nodded slowly.

Cathy's grin widened as her cheeks reddened, "I, uhm, I'm so happy I could be that person for you."

"You're probably the only person who hasn't judged me for who I am... and I appreciate that.

"Well, you're one of a kind."

Anne flushed, "And you're really pretty."

"What?-"

"I mean, er, uh, sorry- that was random."

"You're, uh, you're really pretty, too, er," Cathy hugged swing's chain.

"I, er, I think you're one of the most beautiful people I've met, you know that?"

"I am?" The writer bit her lip, "You really mean that?"

"Yes, I do."

"Good," Cathy looked satisfied, "Because I think you're the prettiest girl I've ever met, and the most amazing thing about you is your such a stubborn loyal person." She forced her swing sideways until she was close enough to tap Anne's nose, making the Boleyn girl laugh. "With the most adorable laugh"

Anne smiled and looked down to try and hide her reddening cheeks.

"Come on," Cathy stood up and started playing music from her phone, "Anne Boleyn, will you dance with me?"

"Here?" Anne laughed, "In the middle of the night in a public park?"

"Why not?"

"Sure," She got to her feet, "Yes."

"Disclaimer," Cathy said as she drew Anne close, "I might step on your feet."

"It's my pleasure to be stepped on by Cathy Parr."

"You're such a flirt, you know that?" The writer rolled her eyes.

"I am?" Anne grinned, spinning Cathy, "I didn't notice."

"How are you so good at this?"

The soldier snaked her arm around Cathy's waist, "I've had practice."

"Damn..."

"Can you keep up?"

Cathy twirled Anne out, then gently tugged her in again so Anne's back was pressed against her chest, "I can try for you, Anne Boleyn."

"Someone's got moves," Teased Anne, hugging Cathy's arm.

"You gremlin," the writer breathed in her soldier's ear, "Just dance with me."

Anne gently twisted in Cathy's grip, beaming. "Yes, ma'am."


	14. One Year Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting to run out of ideas for where to take this fic so we're here with a time skip-
> 
> I might come back later and add more chapters in between this one and the previous, but at the moment this is it (:

"Cath. Cathy. Cathyyyyy!"

Cathy pulled her head out of the mattress, blinking her eyes open slowly to find Anne crouched beside the bed, staring at her.

"What?" Cathy glared as well as she could, but it only made Anne grin wider.

"Two things," The Boleyn girl said, checking the points off on her fingers. "One: you're cute when you try to be mad, and two: your meeting is in an hour."

Cathy groaned and started to roll toward her girlfriend.

"I don't want to go to this meeting."

Anne smiled sympathetically, "I know, babe, but come on."

"Why don't you love me?"

"I'm doing this because I love you," Anne grabbed Cathy's arms and pulled her out of bed, "You made me promise not to let you miss this meeting."

"Goddamn international publishers," Cathy rolled her shoulders, "Hand me that shirt?"

Anne did as requested and handed the blouse hanging from the door jamb to Cathy, who clumsily put it on and stood up to try and wake herself up before logging onto the video call with the publishers in New Zealand and Australia who wanted to talk to her about releasing her book in their bookstores.

"Do you like it?" Anne stood proudly in front of the setup she'd done behind their kitchen table. The background she'd put together was the perfect amount of professional and casual for the meeting Cathy would be on.

"It's perfect! Anne, when did you do this?"

The soldier shifted her weight back and forth, "While you were sleeping. This is a big deal, and I figured we didn't want them seeing the mess of the living room."

Cathy glanced at the front of the apartment where laundry, blankets, books, Cathy's notebooks, and one of Anne's spare legs were tossed across the sofa and coffee table.

"Good choice," Cathy nodded, then she noticed that the ottoman had been pulled up beside Cathy's chair. "What's that for?"

Anne grinned, "I'm so glad you asked, Catherine. You see, I refuse to let you stay up alone so I'm going to hang out with you."

"You know these publishers don't know I'm gay, right?"

"Yep, all the more reason for me to have the ottoman. This way, I can lay next to you," The soldier nudged her girlfriend gently with her shoulder. "They won't have to know I'm there."

"You've really thought this through, haven't you?"

Anne nodded and snaked her arms around Cathy's waist, gently forcing the two of them closer together, "Do you like it?"

"Yes, Anne," Cathy kissed her girlfriend's forehead, "I love it. I love you."

"I love you, too," Anne nuzzled her head against Cathy's shoulder and the two of them started to sway slowly.

"We're very gay."

"Yes, yes, we are."

Cathy glanced briefly at the clock on the wall, then groaned, "I should finish getting ready." She laughed softly when Anne growled her protest. "Come on, my love."

"Fine," The soldier let her arms drop to her sides, "But you owe me cuddles later."

"It's a date," Cathy agreed, then left the kitchen.

The pre-meeting checklist for Cathy included putting on makeup, doing her hair, and making sure her upper-half looked professional and appropriate. She also made sure she had a glass of water and a mug of coffee beside her computer and a notebook and pencil for notes.

Anne, on the other hand, changed into sweatpants and her favorite blue fleece that she'd stolen from Cathy. She brought her favorite blanket from the bed to the kitchen and made sure the extension cords ran close enough to the table that both she and Cathy could have devices charging at the same time.

Ten minutes before midnight, Cathy settled herself in her chair and started logging onto the video call.

"You've got this, _mon amour_ ," Anne said, looking up at her girlfriend from where she lay with her head in Cathy's lap.

Cathy smiled softly, clicking the _Join Call_ button on her screen, "Thank you."

Anne gently laced her fingers with Cathy's and felt her girlfriend's grip tighten when, _"Hello! You must be Catherine Parr! It's so nice to meet you! I'm Thomas Oliver!"_ blasted through the laptop's speakers in an Australian accent.

"Hello," Cathy replied politely, "It's very nice to meet you, too. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me."

_"Of course! We read the first few chapters of your book and, oh my God, we loved it! None of us could put it down until we finished it! We especially love how genuine your main character is, Alexandra, right? The soldier?"_

Anne smiled and hugged Cathy's arm. She was always proud of her girlfriend and her writing, but this was also her favorite book of Cathy's because she felt that she had been apart of its creation. Plus, it was the book that made the two of them first talk to each other.

"Yes, thank you," Cathy was saying to the man, "I am so glad you enjoy it. I am especially proud of Alexandra in comparison to all of my other characters."

_"How did you come up with the basis for her? Like, is she based on any experiences you've had, or a friend has had? Or-"_

Cathy nodded and glanced down at the girl - now asleep - in her lap. "Uhm, yeah," she nodded, "Alexandra is based on my," she took a slow breath, "She's based on the experiences of my girlfriend, Anne, who served on an active-duty combat tour for the British Army for one year."

Mr. Oliver's eyes widened, _"Well, it certainly paid off! I'm a veteran, too, and I think that Alexandra is one of the best military characters I've read in a while."_

Cathy squeezed Anne's hand out of view of the camera, "I will certainly tell her that you think so."

 _"Hello!"_ The publisher from New Zealand joined the call, _"Hi! My name is Emma Matthew. It's a pleasure to meet you."_

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine. I'm Catherine Parr."

Once Cathy's agent joined the call, the two publishers started talking about the logistics of copyright laws and international publishing and how much they would pay. Jemma, her agent, did most of the negotiations, leaving Cathy to spend her time either doodling or combing her fingers gently through Anne's hair as she slept.

A few times, the Boleyn girl would roll over and Cathy would have to adjust how she was sitting to accommodate, but Anne was a pretty still sleeper, so there wasn't too much of a problem.

Not until Anne shifted onto her back and accidentally smacked Cathy's face.

 _"Uhm, Ms. Parr?"_ Ms. Matthew had noticed, _"Were you just... slapped?"_

Cathy blushed, "No, erm- sorry for the disruption. That was my girlfriend. She's asleep and just accidentally hit me. It happens, it didn't hurt."

 _"Catherine Parr, what are you doing bringing Anne Boleyn to an official business meeting?"_ Jemma asked, forgetting for a second that Mr. Oliver and Ms. Matthew were on the call, too.

"First off," Cathy shook her head, "Anne is sleeping so how was I supposed to know she was going to sleep slap my face. Second, Anne is a soldier and can be very responsible when she wants to."

As if on cue, Anne rolled again and smacked Cathy once more, this time on her shoulder.

Mr. Oliver was the first one to lose his cool, _"Oh my God! You two are adorable!"_

_"You are!" Ms. Matthew nodded, "My husband wouldn't even bother to stay with me during late-night meetings."_

"Anne is special," Cathy agreed, her fingers mindlessly tracing circles over Anne's heart, "And I would love to talk about her, however perhaps we should return to the topic of my book?"

 _"Right, yes,_ " Mr. Oliver nodded, _"Of course, of course. Thank you, Ms. Parr. As I was saying-"_

Once again, the topics returned to rights and money, leaving Cathy to watch the peaceful rise and fall of her girlfriend's chest.

Hours passed before Mr. Oliver, Ms. Matthew, and Jemma could come to a decision that Cathy agreed to. When the call ended, the writer carefully wrapped the blanket closer around Anne's shoulders before scooping her girlfriend into her arms and carrying her to their bedroom. Cathy quickly removed her make-up, let down her hair, and changed into pajamas, then slipped into bed beside Anne and pulled her soldier close.

Anne immediately curled into the warmth and woke up ever so slightly. She kissed the tip of Cathy's nose and whispered quietly, "I love you."

Cathy tightened her grip around Anne's chest and said, "I love you, too," under her breath.

Both women slept long and soundly that night, wrapped tightly in the warmth and safety of each other's arms. 


End file.
